Opinion ID: 2385538
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: blois complaint

Text: Respondent was retained in December 1981 by Judith A. Blois to represent her in a matrimonial matter which required immediate action. Upon Respondent's advice, Mrs. Blois withdrew $2,500, representing one-half of the total amount in a joint bank account she maintained with her husband, and gave the money to Respondent to hold. Respondent believed the money was to be used for child support during the pendency of the ensuing divorce litigation and for payment of his legal fees. Mrs. Blois, however, believed that the money was to be held until the marital assets were divided. She did acknowledge that there had been a discussion with Respondent about a $500 retainer and a $100 hourly rate for services rendered. Respondent placed $500 of the total in his personal or business account with the $2,000 balance deposited in a trust account. Mrs. Blois and her husband had essentially agreed not to contest the divorce. Mrs. Blois instructed Respondent to obtain reasonable child support from her husband and to exchange her interest in a music store, which her husband operated, for his interest in the marital home and one of the family cars. Respondent, however, advised her that the exchange of interests in the store and home was unwise without an evaluation of the business. Respondent performed various legal services for Mrs. Blois during the month of December 1981. He reviewed her 58 pages of notes to prepare a draft complaint and order to show cause which Respondent intended to use as negotiating tools. This draft complaint was reviewed and revised by Mrs. Blois. A four-way conference was conducted among Mrs. Blois, Respondent, her husband and his attorney. Respondent sought additional information from Mrs. Blois' attorney regarding Mr. Blois' income. During this time, Respondent and Mrs. Blois were in frequent telephone contact. These discussions revealed that there was little equity in the marital home which Respondent felt made the exchange of interests in the home and store detrimental to his client's interests. Mrs. Blois became upset with Respondent's representation in January 1982 when she learned of the hours spent and the fees charged. Respondent unsuccessfully attempted to have another attorney associated with him continue the case at a lower billing rate. Mrs. Blois demanded an itemized statement of services. When she made an appointment with Respondent to review the itemization and discuss the services listed, Respondent was not there. However, Respondent's secretary sought to obtain Mrs. Blois' signature on a typed retainer agreement which she refused to sign. Mrs. Blois then retained new counsel. With her father, a state trooper, accompanying her, she went to Respondent's office to obtain her file in early February 1982. Two days before this meeting to terminate his services, Respondent without notice to his client withdrew $700 from the monies on deposit in the trust account. At the conference, Respondent submitted to Mrs. Blois a statement of charges for $1,700 and advised that he would remit the $800 balance to her. Respondent neither turned over to Mrs. Blois the file nor a check to Mrs. Blois for $800 because Respondent maintained that he needed more time to reproduce the file and to prepare a check for $40 to reimburse her for a mistake in billing for legal services. Mrs. Blois immediately filed an informal ethics complaint against Respondent on February 8, 1982. When an investigator from the Committee requested Respondent to surrender the file to Mrs. Blois, he replied that it had been mailed a day or so before. The panel found no unethical conduct under DR 7-101(A)(2) concerning Respondent's representation of Mrs. Blois, or from his alleged failure to turn over her file upon demand. The panel noted that: We are convinced that the focus of this ethics complaint is not on any supposed hesitancy of Respondent to represent the interests of complainant in other than a zealous or effective manner; rather, it focuses upon her utter surprise at the time expended by Respondent and the manner in which he took his fee from the trust account. The panel held that Respondent's action regarding the taking of his fee from the trust account was an egregious disregard of his responsibilities under DR 9-102(A)(2) and related provisions. Holding that an attorney may not unilaterally, without notice to the client, reimburse to himself fees from a trust account, the panel concluded that Respondent was guilty of unethical conduct in that he failed to account to his client before substantially depleting the $2,000 in the trust account. The panel was disturbed by Respondent's withdrawal of $700 two days before his last meeting with Mrs. Blois. While Respondent acknowledged his error to the panel, the panel found that his actions were improper and unethical. It concluded that Respondent's conduct merited censure more severe than a private reprimand.