State Bar accuses Livermore legal assistant of practicing law without license

The State Bar Office of the Chief Trial Counsel said Wednesday that it had shut down a woman who was practicing law without a license in Livermore.

In July 2023, a Santa Clara County Superior Court commissioner notified the State Bar about problems in a landlord-tenant small-claims case she was hearing. The commissioner noted a discrepancy in the address listed on multiple court documents, which turned out to be the address for Robin Groth-Hill. In one instance, Groth-Hill was designated as the process server for those documents.

Those and other discrepancies prompted the court commissioner to check the State Bar website, but Groth-Hill was not listed as a licensed attorney. There was a notation on the bar's website that Groth-Hill had received a cease-and-desist notice on Aug. 24, 2022, from the State Bar for the unauthorized practice of law.

Another complainant, a tenant in a dispute with her landlord, said Groth-Hill was working for the landlord as a legal assistant or a legal aid. The complainant said she was told that she must pay the landlord in cash or face eviction. The tenant refused and reported Groth-Hill to the State Bar.

Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona said in Wednesday's announcement that the bar found 200 client files when it raided her office on May 29.

A phone number and LinkedIn and Yelp pages advertising Groth-Hill's services were still operational late Wednesday.

Groth-Hill said in a text that she had responded to the State Bar last summer regarding the court commissioner's report. "Her facts were incorrect," she wrote of the commissioner.

"I didn't hear back from anyone about anything until the State Bar showed up at my house w[ith] a court order to inspect files. I cooperated as again I have not been practicing law without a license and I have nothing to hide. The reps from the State Bar were very professional and kind and I suspect this will be sorted out appropriately in court," Groth-Hill wrote.

Any former clients of Robin Groth-Hill, Robin Hill, or California Legal Services seeking the return of their files can contact the State Bar at (415) 538-2380.