Additional note 4 July 2025: After reading the handful of fake reviews that Michael Kernan likely had his friends and family write on Google and AVVO, there was one honest review which seemed genuine, which also highlighted Kernan’s time wasting issues. I also experienced this and terminated Kernan’s legal services agreement.

Below are my State Bar of California report as well as my Google review about Michael Kernan, a sub-par attorney in California.

I encourage anyone else who has genuine ethical concerns about Michael Kernan to email me for an honest, fact-based discussion or to review our private emails from 2021, which demonstrate his lack of connections at Youtube: ze@shorethang.media

Recently, Michael Kernan, an attorney previously retained by my company, filed suit against my company, representing a client adverse to me. Doing so, Kernan breached his fiduciary duty.

Despite California guidelines stating that attorneys are prohibited in small claims court, a recent hearing at the Beverly Hills Courthouse on February 3rd, 2025 Michael Kernan attempted to improperly insert himself into a hearing for our case (24BHSC02563), despite admonishment from the clerk and bailiff. Kernan insisted he was Sharika Ellis’ attorney, the defendant in my case.

Kernan is known to me professionally, as he previously worked for my company Digital Marketing Advisors in 2021. This presents a galling conflict of interest. Kernan breached his fiduciary duty, by working with someone adverse to my company, after representing DMA, my company.

Michale Kernan behaved in the manner of a bad actor, filing on behalf of his client to avoid responsibility for multiple years worth of digital damage at the hands of Ellis. Also, he conveniently ignored my company’s mutual release with Ellis, which plainly includes an unknown claims waiver.

Digital Marketing Advisors my model management company, has been in business for more than six years. Many of the models we work with have collaborated harmoniously for many consecutive years. Sharika Ellis was unable to conduct herself professionally for more than three months and was dismissed, paid a nominal settlement fee, and we signed a mutual release.

Likewise, Kernan, opposing counsel on this case was retained as an attorney by me and my company in 2021. This presents a clear, undeniable conflict of interest.

This textbook example of breach of fiduciary duty and it’s impact to our case, shall be elucidated herein.

In 2021, California attorney Stephen Michael Kernan was referred to my company Digital Marketing Advisors via a trusted business transactional attorney regarding a matter of our social media content which had been maliciously reported for community guidelines and copyright violations by unknown persons. All social media platforms contain content reporting mechanisms designed to allow honest feedback from social media users over sensitive topics like violent content, copyright content, etc. Sometimes those reporting mechanisms are gamed or used maliciously by unscrupulous individuals to torment their perceived enemies.

The case Kernan was originally retained to support in 2021 is remarkably similar to the Ellis case.

A former  model was sued in September 2020 (case #24STCV04340) over malicious content reporting, and eventually settled in October 2022 in favor of DMA. Not surprisingly, this was also a dramatic case, filled with famous beauties, treacherous attorneys, and involved my company for multiple consecutive years.

I hired Kernan on October 19th, 2021 and signed his legal services agreement that same day.

Kernan sought to levy his experience as an authority on the topic of intellectual property and social media to advise DMA regarding several unknown antagonists who were maliciously abusing community guidelines and copyright reporting to harass and have terminated DMA social media properties, over the course of several years (We call this our “anonymous defendants” case #21STCV36274). Using the investigative powers of the court and effective detective work, the malicious content reporting

parties were discovered to be a mentally deranged German national, and a Canadian individual and a former DMA model.

Kernan and I signed a legal services agreement regarding this matter, Kernan was paid a retainer fee, and did adequately perform legal services prior to his termination. Later, after his termination, Kernan sought to perform additional legal services for a fee and was turned away.

I am seeking the return of all legal fees paid to Kernan during the course of 2021. Any additional repercussions the State Bar of California may levy is entirely at their discretion.

UPDATE 16 May 2025 – S. Michael Kernan (California Bar #181747) remains in the hot seat, and likes to call me a “fraudster.” I found this email exchange humorous, as seeing as how Kernan used a January 2025 against me in court, I am posting our email exchange from May 2025, below. Although Kernan did work for me in 2021, he clearly doesn’t appreciate how far the insult “fraudster” misses the mark. I am one of the more authentic people you’re likely to me. 

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Your false accusations are little more than confessions, Mike.

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