Opinion ID: 2533241
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Medious Matter

Text: The following facts are not in dispute, having been stipulated to by the parties: In 1999, Roscoe Medious paid respondent a $500 fee to review his file. Respondent completed the review, fully earning the fee. Thereafter, Mr. Medious paid respondent an additional $2,000 to file an application for post-conviction relief under the newly-discovered evidence exception. For the next several years, respondent attempted to obtain the evidence at issue and filed a petition for mandamus against the district attorney's office for that purpose. When the evidence could not be located, respondent ended the representation in 2006. Respondent earned some portion of the $2,000 fee based on work he performed for Mr. Medious, but he failed to file an application for post-conviction relief. By letter dated July 6, 2006, respondent invited Mr. Medious to contact the Louisiana State Bar Association to begin a fee arbitration process. Mr. Medious did not respond to respondent's letter, nor did he initiate arbitration. At that time, respondent did not immediately refund the unearned portion of the fee or promptly escrow the disputed portion pending the resolution of the fee dispute as he was obligated to do by the Rules of Professional Conduct. In May 2009, after the filing of the original formal charges, respondent refunded the $2,000 fee to Mr. Medious. The ODC alleged respondent violated Rule 1.5(f)(5) (failure to refund an unearned fee) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.