Did Bijal Patel Function as Tracy City Attorney While Her License Was Suspended Remains Unresolved
Steve Nicolaou Long Time Tracy Resident and Attorney Shines Spotlight on City Attorney and Council Ethics
Tracy taxpayers are footing the $279,807 annual salary for embattled and controversial city attorney, Bijal Patel. Her ineptness resulted in the State Bar suspending her license and ordering her to cease practicing law until she met minimum standards, and the public is still left with unresolved question about whether Ms. Patel broke the law by providing legal counsel to the city while her license was suspended.
The most recent city council hearing did shed some light on what happened during the July 5th Closed Session meeting that caused alarm in the community, including with prominent local attorney Steve Nicolaou.
On March 5th, Nicolaou submitted a letter to the Tracy City Council calling out the city on a Brown Act Violation in major part because Patel attended the meeting while her license was suspended by the California State Bar. Here is what Nicolaou said:
The city’s outside counsel, Jon Natalizio from Best Best & Krieger in southern California, makes the case that the city was legally represented during the Closed Session. (Why Patel selected an unremarkable junior associate from a big firm in Los Angeles to represent Tracy in this matter remains a mystery. Wasn’t there anyone in Northern California willing to take on this case?)
Kevin Siegel of Burke, Williams, and Sorensen, who was retained to defend the city in Mary Mitracos’ lawsuit against the city, was present in the Closed Session meeting as representative for the city. According to Natalizio, this covers the city from Nicolaou’s claims.
Here is where things get murky.
Natalizio admits that Patel attended the July 5th hearing but not as the City Attorney, instead as an appointed staff member, who had the right to attend.
The fact that Bijal Patel attended the July 5th Closed Session or did any city business at all during her suspension by the California State Bar is at the heart of this issue. She should have never been in the room in the first place.
Just to clarify: the city’s stance is that Patel, the council appointed Tracy City Attorney, attended a meeting involving litigation with the city not as an attorney but as a city staffer. How is this possible? As of July 5 Patel had not yet told the City that her right to practice law had been suspended.
To quote the great George Strait: “If you buy that I’ll throw the Golden Gate in free…”
Instead, it’s very, very unlikely that Patel did not operate as Tracy’s City Attorney in the July meeting given that she withheld disclosing her suspension by the California State Bar from others.
She wouldn’t need to withhold providing legal advice if no one knew that she was suspended. On this front, Mayor Young and taxpayers have a right to be angry. Patel’s tight lips is not just unethical, it also put the city in threat of litigation.
One question we will not get answers for is if Bijal Patel would have been allowed to attend the meeting in July had she disclosed to the entire city council and outside counsel, Kevin Siegel, beforehand?
The answer is likely no.
Siegel, if anyone, might have advised the council and Patel to not attend out of caution. But there is no legal basis under the Brown Act for a non-attorney, that is “an appointed staff member” to attend a closed session on pending litigation. Ironically the defense raises another Brown Act violation.
Hindsight is everything but, in this regard, and for this fact alone Bijal Patel should have been fired.
It’s not too late for the city council to do the right thing and move on from Patel.
Again, let’s hope for the taxpayers sake, that local attorney Steve Nicolaou continues to press this matter forward, so more information can be made public.