People v. Carrara.
No. 24PDJ037. 5/10/2024. Stipulation to Discipline.
June 17, 2024
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ stipulation to discipline and publicly censured Katherine Carrara (Pennsylvania attorney registration number 87246), effective May 10, 2024.
In January 2023, Carrara called D.K., an individual involved in the insurance business who was engaged in various feuds with neighbors in Aurora, Colorado. Carrara said she represented his neighbors, asked if he had a lawyer, and told him she was meeting with his neighbors that afternoon. After that telephone conversion, D.K. called the police because he felt threatened.
Soon after the call, Carrara emailed D.K. at his professional email address: “Would you like sit down and discuss this with us or do you want this to get big and messy? I have photos and videos that are going right to the state licensing board, my tiktok, my connections and anyone else we can think of. [Your employer]? You bet!” Carrara signed the email “Katherine Carrara Esq.” She sent the email from a “carraralaw@gmail.com” email address, which identifies “Carrara Law” as the sender. Minutes later, Carrara sent D.K. a second message from the same email account, writing: “I have a meeting with your neighbors at 3:30 and we are making a video about you for my tik tok, and I will be sending it around on all the local blogs, facebook, etc.”
D.K. forwarded these emails to his lawyer and told the officer responding to the 911 call about them. The officer spoke to D.K. and one of D.K.’s neighbors but found no elements of a crime.
After reviewing Carrara’s emails, D.K.’s lawyer emailed respondent and asked if she represented either of D.K.’s neighbors. She replied, “[n]o just myself I am attorney in Aurora. I found a bunch of folks being bullied by him [D.K.] so I figured I will make a tik tok about all his stories and post it around the area.” A minute later, Carrara emailed D.K.’s lawyer again, reiterating that she represented herself and planned to post stories about D.K. D.K.’s lawyer asked why she was acting on behalf of D.K.’s neighbors if she was representing herself. Carrara said she was not representing D.K.’s neighbors but “was just collecting data I do a thing on tik tok busting local bullies. Heard the story and thought he would be a good candidate. Hoping to find even more people.” In a follow-up email she said, “there’s people on yelp, former co-workers. I will send you the tik tok when I’m done, its #bullybusters.”
D.K.’s lawyer asked Carrara if she was licensed to practice law in Colorado. She replied, “Yes, I am!” When he requested her attorney registration number, she responded: “365 practice pending admission.” But Carrara was not licensed to practice law in Colorado and did not have a Colorado attorney registration number. Nor had she applied to practice pending admission.
Through this conduct, Carrara violated Colo. RPC 4.5(a) (a lawyer must not threaten criminal, administrative, or disciplinary charges to obtain an advantage in a civil matter) and Colo. RPC 8.4(c) (it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation). The case file is public per CRCP 242.41(a).