Opinion ID: 1170222
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Wright Solicitation

Text: Mrs. Vinader Wright was injured in an automobile accident on May 7, 1970. She was taken to Orthopaedic Hospital by ambulance and was examined and X-rayed there. After going home she telephoned her insurance agent and left a message that she had been in an accident. The next morning, Lieberman called at Mrs. Wright's home without having been asked to do so. Mrs. Wright assumed that the insurance agent (with whom she had not yet spoken) had sent him when he received her message. Lieberman asked her to sign certain papers allegedly necessary for an investigation. She did not have her glasses on and was unable to read the papers, but she signed anyway, since she thought that Lieberman had been sent by the insurance agent. Lieberman did not explain to her that by signing the papers she was retaining petitioner's law firm to represent her in connection with the accident, and he did not give her a copy of the retainer agreement. The following day, Mrs. Wright received from petitioner's office a form letter thanking her for selecting the firm to represent her and giving her various instructions on steps to be taken. When she received this letter, she telephoned her insurance agent and learned that he had not sent Lieberman to see her. A few days later, Lieberman telephoned Mrs. Wright and informed her that he was employed by petitioner's law firm. She told him she did not want an attorney, and she later wrote a letter to the firm to that effect. During Lieberman's visit to her home Mrs. Wright had mentioned that Dr. Kaufman was her personal physician. After Mrs. Wright notified petitioner's law firm that she did not want to be represented by an attorney at that time, Lieberman telephoned Dr. Kaufman. Mrs. Wright was in the doctor's office at that time, and the doctor had Mrs. Wright talk with Lieberman. She again told him that she did not then want the services of an attorney. She had no further contact with Lieberman or the firm. A client's file was opened in Mrs. Wright's name, since petitioner considered that she had retained him. The file was not available at the time of the hearing, both Lieberman and petitioner testifying that it had probably been inadvertently destroyed as trash when the office had been remodeled. The remodeling occurred in 1972 after petitioner had been notified that Mrs. Wright had filed a complaint against him with the State Bar.