Opinion ID: 1624258
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Guin Matter

Text: In April 2005, LaDonna Guin paid respondent $1,675 to handle a divorce. Although respondent did some work in the matter, she failed to finalize the divorce and failed to communicate with Ms. Guin regarding the matter. Respondent did not return Ms. Guin's file to her or refund the unearned portion of her fee, despite repeated requests from Ms. Guin. In November 2006, Ms. Guin filed a complaint against respondent with the ODC. Respondent failed to file a written response, necessitating the issuance of a subpoena to obtain her sworn statement. Respondent provided a sworn statement to the ODC on March 29, 2007. During her statement, respondent informed the ODC that she suffers from a severe thyroid condition. [3] Respondent testified that her condition has caused extreme physical and emotional difficulties, including depression, sleeplessness, uncontrollable crying, inability to concentrate, and memory loss. Respondent also suffers from severe migraine headaches. As a result of these problems, in 2005, respondent began to reduce her client base. She finally closed her law office in March 2006. Respondent explained that most of her difficulties with her clients arose during this period when she was fixing to have to face the fact that I was gonna have to close my practice.