State Bar Accuses Mitchelson of $1-Million Gems Swindle, Smuggling

The State Bar of California on Thursday accused celebrity divorce lawyer Marvin Mitchelson of smuggling about $1 million in jewels into the United States after swindling them from a charity auction in Switzerland.

Mitchelson said the charge is baseless.

The smuggling charge is the latest in a series of accusations made by the Bar against Mitchelson, who earned fame in the 1970s as the lawyer who successfully argued for the creation of palimony for unwed couples who separate, but who now faces the possibility of disbarment.

Mitchelson, 60, has previously been accused by the Bar of misappropriating clients’ trust funds, charging unconscionable fees, failing to return unearned fees and improperly asking a client to withdraw her complaint to the State Bar during negotiations over the return of unearned fees.

He has also been accused by the Bar of failing to pay for the jewels--a sapphire and diamond pendant and a turquoise, amethyst and diamond necklace formerly owned by the Duchess of Windsor--which he allegedly obtained from the Sotheby’s auction house by promising to pay for them from the proceeds of an upcoming divorce case. The Bar alleges that Mitchelson never paid for the jewelry.

Proceeds from the auction went to the Pasteur Institute, which conducts basic research in biology and medicine and is a leading AIDS center. Sotheby’s paid Pasteur and has sued Mitchelson, the Bar said.

State Bar senior trial counsel Victoria Molloy said she asked Mitchelson at a deposition three months ago if he had brought the jewels into this country and he declined to answer. She said she then investigated and found that he had brought the jewels in and had failed to declare them or pay any duty on them.

“This, if proven, is a criminal act,” Molloy said.

She filed papers in the State Bar’s Administrative Court asking a judge for permission to add the smuggling charge to the others faced by Mitchelson, whose disciplinary trial is scheduled Aug. 14.

Informed of the latest charge, Mitchelson, who has denied any wrongdoing, said: “I’ve done business with Sotheby’s for the last 20 years. I’ve bought and sold millions of dollars of art and jewelry. I’ve been the leading purchaser and seller at several major auctions in New York and London.

“Sotheby’s has never accused me of defrauding them. They have sued me for the money, and part of the purchase price of the Duchess of Windsor jewelry has been paid, and the balance will soon be paid.

“Only the Bar has made these baseless accusations. Sotheby recognized that I purchased the jewelry and have paid for part of the purchase and will pay the balance. Sotheby’s also extended me credit in that regard.

“I have never smuggled anything into this country and have never knowingly failed to declare any item that I believed should be lawfully declared.”