Opinion ID: 1824315
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: walsh settlement

Text: In 1992, Robert Walsh hired Rau to represent him in a dispute concerning a cattle sale. When the litigation was scheduled for trial, Rau did not inform Walsh. Rau failed to file briefs within the schedule set by the trial court and failed to communicate with or respond to requests made by the trial court concerning the litigation. Before trial, Walsh agreed to accept a $4,000 settlement of the dispute. The defendant's insurance company issued a $4,000 settlement check made payable to Walsh and Rau. Rau deposited the check in his client trust account without obtaining the endorsement of Walsh. Rau then informed Walsh he had sent a $4,000 check to Walsh's home address in Garrison. Walsh was terminally ill with a brain tumor at the time, and was staying in Mandan. He made numerous trips to Garrison to locate the check and made numerous contacts with Rau to find out what happened to it. Rau eventually told Walsh the check had been forged by someone at a Washburn bank and that authorities had a videotape of the person forging the check. That story was contradicted by authorities, who said they knew nothing about such an incident. Rau eventually wrote a second check to Walsh. However, Rau's account did not have sufficient funds to cover the check, and Rau placed a stop payment order on the check within four days after writing it. Walsh never received payment of the $4,000 settlement from Rau. Rau testified at the disciplinary hearing that he wrote a $4,000 check to Walsh from his trust account and gave the check to his friend, Linda Wilson, for mailing. He claims he has no personal knowledge of what happened to the check after that, but he suspects Wilson failed to mail it. He claims Wilson told him the story about the Washburn forgery, which he then merely related to Walsh. Rau also claims his client trust fund was depleted through Wilson's forgery of Rau's name on numerous checks from that account, which she deposited to Rau's personal account. Rau claims Wilson then forged his name to checks from the personal account to pay bills such as rent and car payments for herself and for Rau. Rau claims he had no knowledge of Wilson's actions and that he is now bankrupt and without funds to pay Walsh the $4,000 he owes him. The hearing panel and Board rejected Rau's explanation of his failure to pay the $4,000 settlement to Walsh. The Board found Rau knowingly converted the $4,000.00 settlement amount to his own use or to the use of his girlfriend, and that Rau intentionally misled and deceived Walsh regarding the facts surrounding the settlement payment. The Board found Rau failed to appropriately communicate with Walsh, failed to safeguard Walsh's property, and engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation, all in violation of Rules 1.4 and 1.15 of the North Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct (N.D.R.Prof.Cond.), and Rule 1.2 A(3), NDPRLDD.