Opinion ID: 1350739
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the cochran matter

Text: In 1989, Theresa Cochran engaged Mr. Cometti to represent her in a case concerning allegations of student loan improprieties against a college she had attended. Mrs. Cochran presented Mr. Cometti with handwritten documents prepared by college officials and apparently detrimental to the college's case. Mr. Cometti placed those documents in a file concerning Mrs. Cochran's case in his office. Mrs. Cochran then sought the return of her file through letters and telephone calls to Mr. Cometti beginning in October, 1989, so that she could obtain another lawyer to represent her. Mrs. Cochran sent several certified letters to Mr. Cometti and left several phone messages for him requesting the return of her file in November, 1989. Mrs. Cochran then contacted the Committee and filed an ethics complaint. A copy of the complaint was sent by the assistant disciplinary counsel to Mr. Cometti on December 3, 1989. Assistant disciplinary counsel then sent Mr. Cometti a letter in both January and February, 1990, which threatened him with disciplinary action for not returning Mrs. Cochran's file. Mr. Cometti did not respond until April of 1990 when he turned the papers over to Mrs. Cochran. The Committee contends that Mr. Cometti violated Rule 1.16(d) of the Rules of Professional Conduct when he failed to timely surrender Mrs. Cochran's file upon her request that he do so. Rule 1.16(d) states: Upon termination of representation, a lawyer shall take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client's interests, such as giving reasonable notice to the client, allowing time for employment of other counsel, surrendering papers and property to which the client is entitled and refunding any advance payment of fee that has not been earned. The lawyer may retain papers relating to the client to the extent permitted by other law. Initially, it is important to recognize that Rule 1.16(a)(3) allows a client to discharge an attorney. [7] A client may discharge an attorney in a civil case at any time with or without cause, as stated in the official comment to Rule 1.16: A client has a right to discharge a lawyer at any time, with or without cause, subject to liability for payment for the lawyer's services. The official comment is a distillation of the common law rule with regard to the attorney-client relationship. We have recognized this in Boyle v. Beltzhoover, 119 W.Va. 626, 641, 196 S.E. 503, 510 (1938), where we stated that  `the client may end [the relationship] at any time, without notice, and without showing any cause therefor.' 3 American and Eng. Ency. of Law 327-28 (2d Ed.), 327-8. The New York Court of Appeals expressed the matter in this fashion in Demov, Morris, Levin & Shein v. Glantz, 53 N.Y.2d 553, 556-57, 444 N.Y.S.2d 55, 57, 428 N.E.2d 387, 389 (1981), and we agree: [A] client may at anytime, with or without cause, discharge an attorney in spite of a particularized retainer agreement between the parties.... Moreover, we have held that since the client has the absolute right of public policy grounds to terminate the attorney-client relationship at any time without cause, it follows as a corollary that the client cannot be compelled to pay damages for exercising a right which is an implied condition of the contract, and the attorney discharged without cause is limited to recovering in quantum meruit the reasonable value of services rendered. (Citations omitted). [8] See also Novinger v. E.I. duPont De NeMours & Co., Inc., 809 F.2d 212 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied sub nom. Novinger v. Kramer, 481 U.S. 1069, 107 S.Ct. 2462, 95 L.Ed.2d 871 (1987); Annas v. State, 726 P.2d 552 (Alaska App.1986); The Florida Bar v. Grusmark, 544 So.2d 188 (Fla.1989); Belli v. Shaw, 98 Wash.2d 569, 657 P.2d 315 (1983). See generally 7 Am.Jur.2d Attorney-at-Law § 168 (1980). Once the relationship is terminated, Rule 1.16(d) comes into play and the attorney is required to promptly return the client's papers and documents. In the present case, there is sufficient evidence that the file was not returned, as requested, upon termination of the attorney-client relationship; thus, we find that Mr. Cometti violated Rule 1.16(d).