The California Supreme Court declined to rescue a lawyer whose law practice has been taken over by the State Bar in litigation accusing him of a scheme to defraud desperate homeowners.

Calabasas attorney Philip Kramer was one of four lawyers Attorney General Kamala Harris sued in August, alleging that they had pocketed retainers — up to $10,000 — from desperate homeowners in so-called mass joinder lawsuits against mortgage lenders.