Tracy City Attorney Bijal M. Patel’s license to practice law in the State of California was suspended between July 1st and August 1st, 2023, according to a breaking story by KCRA3 (access the story here.) According to KCRA, Bijal failed to complete her legal education requirements and file a report with the state bar by the February deadline. Every practicing attorney in California is required to do these requirements every 3-years.
In what could be a major cover-up at Tracy City Hall, the conceit by Patel, arguably the most powerful city executive thanks to Councilmembers Evans, Bedolla and Davis, to fail in completing her state legal requirements while still conducting city business is beyond negligence. It is unethical for certain. It may be illegal.
The entire issue begs several critical questions that must be answered -
Who knew what and when and why wasn’t it made public? Was there a cover-up?
Based on the KCRA article, Mayor Young was not aware that Patel’s license had been suspended by the State Bar. Did Patel hide this information from the city council? Did any of our elected officials know about her license suspension? Did the acting City Manager? Did the City Clerk?
If there are others inside City Hall that helped cover it up, then they need to be terminated immediately.
Did the city attorney receive a paycheck while her license was suspended?
According to the article, Patel was not able to function as an attorney while her license was suspended. However, she’s a salaried position with the City of Tracy. If she couldn’t practice law, then she couldn’t perform her duties as City Attorney. Did she still get paid with taxpayer dollars? Was the city still paying health and retirement benefits?
What city business did Patel partake in while her license was suspended? What are the implications if she did?
We can confirm from the city’s website that there was a July 5th Special Meeting and Closed Session Meeting that Patel partook in. There also was an August 1st Special Meeting, though we cannot confirm if Patel was in attendance or not. In the Closed Session meeting there was legal matters discussed in which Patel advised the city council as the city attorney. If her legal license was suspended, then she was illegally providing legal advice. The same goes for the regular public hearing. What are implications for the legality of those proceedings?
Patel must have known her CA State Bar license renewal was up. It was a conscious decision on her part to not renew it. It calls into her question her professional code of conduct. It also calls into question her decision making and management skills.
More on this story to come...