In 2021 San Diego Magazine named her a Woman of the Year Rising Star. Two years later, Kelly Duford Williams was a fugitive with the U.S. Marshals on her trail.
The Kirkland Police Department arrested her for grand theft on Monday in Snohomish County, Washington.
Williams’ bail is set at $25,000. The California Bar Association has already revoked Williams' license to practice in the state. Before she was arrested, she had closed her office and vanished.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Her fall from grace may seem fast, but complaints about Williams’ misconduct have been making the rounds for at least two years.
Current Most Read Stories on NBC 7 San Diego
A friend referred Kia Vaara to Williams’ firm, Slate Law Group, when she needed to hire an attorney.
“She definitely advocated for me and she made me feel that I was in good hands," Vaara said, adding that Williams proudly boasted she was “adamant about being female-empowered."
"She wanted to help her fellow woman, and I was a single mother and she believed in me and I believed her," Vaara said.
Williams won a $48,000 settlement for Vaara who recalled the day they went to the courthouse. Williams was wearing shoes that caught Vaara’s eye. Williams thanked her and then, “She promised me a pair of Prada heels and I still haven’t gotten them," Vaara said.
That’s not the only thing she didn’t get. Vaara never saw the settlement money.
“She assured me I would get my check within a week, 10 days. That’s when the gaslighting began," she said.
Vaara said Williams began making excuses, first that she mailed the check to the wrong address, then that she misspelled Vaara’s name. The check Williams said was in the mail never arrived.
After two months Vaara realized she was never going to get her settlement money, so she started posting negative reviews on social media sites and filed a formal complaint with the California Bar Association.
Vaara isn’t alone. Documents show another woman reported Williams also kept her settlement money.
The Bar Association found a total of 16 counts of misconduct against Williams including misappropriation of funds, making false reports to police while using a false name, claiming to be a Deputy District Attorney and sending a staffer to court to pose as a lawyer.
Williams claims she's done nothing wrong.
The hearing officer found Williams culpable for all 16 counts, said Chief Counsel George Cardona, who added that the opinion shows Williams wasn’t credible and “that she lied to the court point blank about certain facts at the trial.”
Vaara testified against Williams at the hearing. She was thrilled to learn Williams had lost her license to practice law in California.
“I feel like I got my little bit of justice and I took a really bad lawyer off the streets," Vaara said.
