In the first quarter of 2026, 12 California attorneys were disbarred, and 17 others were suspended or placed on probation, the State Bar of California’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) announced on May 8.

The disbarments included an attorney serving as a third-party paymaster and escrow agent who worked with another man to steal $6.75 million that was earmarked for COVID-19 vaccines for Barbados at the height of the pandemic; an attorney who took money from incarcerated clients and their families and failed to provide adequate representation, missed court dates and filings, and caused several clients to be remanded in custody unnecessarily; and an attorney who deposited at least 17 federal income tax checks belonging to individuals who were not his clients into his personal bank account.

Charles Z. Stein (SBN 265361) of North Hollywood was disbarred by the California Supreme Court, effective March 29, 2026, for his part in an early 2021 scheme to defraud the country of Barbados of more than $6 million in funds intended to purchase COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. Stein served as a third-party paymaster and escrow agent for the expected $12.2 million COVID-19 vaccine purchase. After Radical Investments Ltd. (RIL, Barbados’s authorized procurement entity) deposited the funds into his client trust account, Stein immediately began coordinating privately with the seller, Alex Moore, to divert the money for unauthorized purposes.

Moore told Stein that the vaccines supposedly costing $10.2 million only cost $2 million and that Moore planned to pocket the $8 million difference. Moore told Stein that he would “make [him] a millionaire” and even pay off Stein’s approximately $400,000 in law school debt if he released the funds as Moore directed. Stein secretly worked with Moore and disbursed $6.725 million in a series of unauthorized wire transfers, including $2 million to a company that was not the vaccine provider (the provider was AstraZeneca), $4.2 million to the seller’s company in two separate transfers, $485,000 to a supposed freight company, and $40,000 directly into Stein’s own personal bank account (exceeding his allotted compensation). This was all in direct violation of the escrow agreement and without the knowledge or consent of RIL. To conceal his misconduct, Stein repeatedly misled RIL; refused to provide required trust-account transaction records; and falsely claimed he lacked wire confirmations—even though he had already sent them privately to Moore.

Stein provided misleading assurances about supplier relationships, did not disclose that documents were deficient or fraudulent, and aligned himself entirely with Moore’s interests while ignoring his fiduciary obligations of neutrality, candor, and strict compliance with escrow instructions. Although $5.475 million was ultimately returned, Stein never recovered or returned the $6.725 million he wrongfully disbursed, and no vaccines were ever secured for Barbados.

Claire Jacqueline White (SBN 310771) of Suisun City was disbarred effective February 14, 2026, after she admitted in a stipulation with OCTC to a yearslong pattern of serious misconduct that caused harm to incarcerated individuals and their family members, who trusted her with their money and expected fair representation. In multiple matters, White took thousands of dollars from clients—often people already incarcerated and unable to advocate for themselves—or their loved ones, then failed to perform the work she promised, ignored urgent case needs, missed court dates, lied about the status of their cases, and kept money she had not earned. Her actions―and inactions―caused several clients to be remanded to jail longer than they should have without the legal services they paid for and needed. Because of this admitted misconduct, White was ordered to pay more than $45,000 in restitution to former clients, along with $8,500 in sanctions and additional disciplinary costs. To date, a total of 14 victims of White’s dishonest conduct have received reimbursement funds through the State Bar’s Client Security Fund.

Thaddeus Julian Culpepper (SBN 220194) of Tustin was summarily disbarred on January 9, 2026, after his conviction and 30-month sentence for federal bank fraud became final following the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial of Culpepper’s petition for review in February 2025. Between April 2015 and August 2017, Culpepper opened three client trust accounts at three different banks, into which he deposited at least 17 Internal Revenue Service tax refund checks issued to names other than Culpepper’s, totaling approximately $1.3 million. Among the checks was a tax refund check for more than $1 million that Culpepper deposited into a client trust account on August 17, 2017. He admitted to passing this check, with a forged and falsely made endorsement, with the intent to defraud. Culpepper also admitted knowing that the true payees on the tax refund checks did not authorize him to deposit the funds into his client trust accounts. On September 9, 2022, Culpepper pleaded guilty to two federal felonies: theft of government property and passing a U.S. Treasury check bearing a forged endorsement. In November 2022, Culpepper was sentenced to 30 months in prison. He had been suspended from the practice of law, pending final disposition of the disciplinary proceeding, since January 30, 2023.

Qiang Ma (SBN 176834) of San Marino was disbarred on January 16, 2026, following his stipulation with OCTC in which he admitted to serious professional misconduct, including the misappropriation of $760,000 from a client, dishonesty, and failure to account for client funds. In 2019, Ma was retained by a Chinese businessman to assist with U.S. immigration filings and corporate structuring necessary to obtain an L-1A visa and related visas for his family. The businessman paid Ma $75,000 in legal fees and provided Ma with $850,000 to purchase a controlling interest in a California company—US Janus Education Inc. (USJE)—that would serve as the businessman’s sponsoring employer. When the company’s CEO later instructed Ma to return $700,000 of the businessman’s investment, Ma, who was a signatory to the USJE bank account, instead issued a check to RYJT Investment LLC, a company owned by Ma’s son, and transferred the money there for unrelated purposes. The stipulation states that Ma “willfully and intentionally misappropriated” the funds, an act of moral turpitude and dishonesty under California law. After years of litigation and investigation, Ma repaid portions of the misappropriated money with interest—$919,204 in 2023 and an additional $50,000 in 2025—under settlement agreements.

Gregory Bowen Byberg (SBN 162874) of Marina del Rey was disbarred by order of the California Supreme Court, effective March 21, 2026. Byberg stipulated with OCTC to be disbarred related to 28 acts of misconduct across eight separate investigative cases. Byberg misappropriated more than $169,000 in settlement funds belonging to at least five clients, including taking a minor’s court-protected settlement and violating a court order requiring him to place the child’s money into a restricted bank account that no one could access without a judge’s approval; retaining a full six-figure settlement belonging to another client while paying himself excessive fees and never informing the client that the case had settled; taking two separate personal injury settlements from one client and withholding both for months; diverting another client’s auto injury settlement while concealing that he had received the checks; and spending another client’s settlement funds without disclosure. Byberg also received nine notices from OCTC about his obligations to report actions related to the Client Trust Account Protection Program (CTAPP). He failed to comply, became ineligible to practice law in July 2023, and received written notice of that suspension. Byberg engaged in the unauthorized practice of law while suspended under CTAPP. Despite being ineligible, he filed two civil complaints and a proof of service in a third case. He also remained counsel of record in all three matters throughout the suspension period (July 1 to September 18, 2023). As part of his disbarment, Byberg was ordered by the Supreme Court to pay more than $105,000 in restitution to four clients, plus 10 percent interest.

The State Bar of California’s first-quarter 2026 attorney discipline data can be viewed via its interactive discipline statistics webpage. You can search for State Bar Court records and documents related to attorney discipline matters using the court’s Case Search feature. Input either the case number (you must add SBC to recent case numbers) or the attorney’s name (last, first and middle).

Attorney discipline matters are investigated and prosecuted by the State Bar’s OCTC, acting on behalf of the public. The attorney is presumed innocent of the allegations unless the State Bar Court finds the attorney culpable by clear and convincing evidence.

The State Bar Court oversees disciplinary proceedings and adjudicates charges filed by OCTC. The State Bar Court rules on whether an attorney has committed professional misconduct and may recommend that an attorney be suspended or disbarred. The State Bar Court’s recommendation is transmitted to the California Supreme Court, which determines whether to impose the recommended discipline. See rule 9.18, California Rules of Court.