Artesia man accused of practicing law without a license

ARTESIA — An Artesia man allegedly used his standing in the Filipino community to engage in long-standing unauthorized practice of law as an immigration attorney, officials said Monday.

John Pamintuan Alamarez Jr. did business as Immigration Law Services and Immigration Services Law Office despite never having been licensed to practice law in California, according to the State Bar of California's Office of Chief Trial Counsel.

The chief trial counsel's office announced it recently seized the illegal business.

Alamarez was once an employee of a licensed attorney, but after the lawyer's death, he persuaded the attorney's daughter -- a lawyer herself -- to return from out of state to take over her father's practice. She and other licensed attorneys severed ties with Alamarez and later filed a complaint with the State Bar, the OCTC stated.

OCTC executed the seizure of the business after a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted an interim order. At the man's Artesia office, OCTC seized 21 boxes containing client files, a laptop, and vital client records, including a client's passport, the State Bar said Monday.

According to OCTC, evidence shows that for years Alamarez presented himself as an attorney and encouraged clients to refer to him as such. Some of Alamarez's clients knew him as the pastor at their church, where Alamarez recruited them as clients, the State Bar said.

According to the complaints and witness statements, Alamarez spoke to Filipino clients in Tagalog when the attorney who filed the complaint with the State Bar attempted to correct them when they referred to Alamarez as "attorney John" or similar references to him as a California licensee, OCTC said.

The State Bar said several Filipino clients reported significant financial losses after paying large sums for immigration and other legal services that were never completed.

"This matter reflects a complex and troubling series of events involving unauthorized practice of law both inside a licensed attorney's office and after multiple licensed attorneys severed ties with Mr. Alamarez," State Bar Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said in a statement.

"Clients, including members of a church where Alamarez served as a pastor, believed they were receiving legitimate legal assistance, but instead their matters were mishandled, exorbitant fees were taken, and their cases were placed at serious risk."

Alamarez could not immediately be reached for comment.