Opinion ID: 1833321
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Failure to Respond to Director's Correspondence

Text: In reference to this court's order of April 19, 1996, the Director's office mailed several letters to respondent between May 1996, and August 1996, requesting that he submit within a prescribed time limit the following: (1) a list of four attorneys willing to supervise; (2) an inventory of all active client files; (3) a written plan outlining office procedures; and (4) all original trust account books and records. After respondent failed to respond to the first three letters, the Director's office mailed one letter per week for three weeks requesting that respondent personally appear at specified times at the Director's office. Although most of the letters were sent to the same address respondent continues to use, and were sent by both regular and certified mail, respondent did not check his mail in a timely manner and did not receive the bulk of the certified letters because he failed to claim them. However, respondent did eventually receive the letters sent by first class mail and was aware that the Director was seeking to implement the terms of this court's disciplinary order, but respondent did nothing in response to the Director's inquiries. Respondent claimed that because he did not respond, the Director should have known that he was not practicing law, a claim the referee found to be nonsensical as well as untrue because respondent did prepare wills for Phyllis and Albert Vogt on or about May 9, 1996. Furthermore, although respondent claimed there had been no activity in his trust accounts from March 1996 through May 1996, he failed to reveal to the Director, until compelled by discovery, that those accounts held more than $2,350 in client funds acquired as long as six years earlier. In response to the Director's petition herein, respondent essentially denied that he had done anything to harm anyone and accused the Director of abuse of power and misconduct for libeling him and sought to have the Director fired from her position. The referee considered and rejected the issues raised in respondent's responses as facially not credible.