Lawyer Disbarred for Student Debt

By: Ryan MacIsaac · April 15, 2009 · Filed Under Ethics, Law Career, Law School · 7 Comments

As reported by The Globe and Mail, Houston-based lawyer Frank Santulli has been stripped of his licence to practice law because of his student debt. Santulli has carried US$67,000 in outstanding loans since 1998 and failed to follow a plan to repay them:

A Texas appeals court said lawyer Frank Santulli III did not have the trustworthiness needed to represent clients because of his failure to comply with the repayment plan… The appeals court cited the possibility that “he will harm a client, obstruct administration of justice or violate the disciplinary rules.”

So two courts have now found a logical connection between Santulli’s ethical soundness and his ability to pay back massive debt. Could the same thing happen in Canada? Well these are tough times (comparatively) for lawyers entering the market, and a study four years ago found that “27 percent [of all current law students] expected to have debt of $40,000 to $70,000 and 13 percent expected to graduate with over $70,000 of debt.” With some students graduating with up to $100,000 owing, Mr. Santulli’s tale is a reminder to keep track of your debt, figure out how you’re going to repay it, and to live the frugal life as a law student.

Post tags: Frank Santulli, professional ethics, student debt

Comments

7 Responses to “Lawyer Disbarred for Student Debt”

Imee on April 16th, 2009 6:04 am

I never thought I’d see the day. Poor man, all that hard work in law school leads down to this? I guess he’ll just have to start anew and never forget the lesson learned: mind your finances. ALWAYS.
KC on April 16th, 2009 10:54 am

Only 27% of law students have between 40,000 and 70,000 in student debt? Yeesh must be even more silver spoons then I thought out there.

He still should be able to pay back 67,000. I have more student debt than that.
Marnie Tunay on April 19th, 2009 11:23 pm

I’ll bet he wins his appeal – on the grounds that the court needed to have more than a theoretical future “possibility” of professional turpitude to strip him of his livelihood.
Barbara on May 13th, 2009 1:56 pm

Haven’t read the story but the title reminds me of when I was a student loan collector and some of the silly excuses people gave for not paying. My favorite was “Why should I pay it back, I didn’t learn anything? I was having a bad day and told her “To paraphrase an old saying, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make them drink – you can send a person to school but you can’t make them THINK.”
Dean on January 6th, 2010 8:50 pm

68,000 is not a huge amount of debt for a law student to incur. With 11 years practicing law to pay it back? It seems strange that he had such a hard time over a decade to whittle down an average amount of debt. There must be more to this story.
f on May 3rd, 2010 7:59 pm

Usurious student loans are criminal.

You are a den of vipers and thieves. I intend to rout you out, and by the Eternal God, I will rout you out… If people only understood the rank injustice of the money and banking system, there would be a revolution by morning.

Andrew Jackson,seventh President of the U.S.
smart brains on July 6th, 2010 3:23 am

68,000 is not a huge amount of debt for a law student to incur. you can send a person to school but you can’t make them think. There must be more to this story.