Opinion ID: 2634770
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Complaint of Jan Godfrey (DA9047)

Text: In December 2002, Jan Godfrey retained the respondent to represent her in an action for divorce. Ms. Godfrey placed a number of telephone calls to the respondent which, for the most part, the respondent failed to return. On April 18, 2003, the respondent filed the decree of divorce and property settlement agreement in behalf of Ms. Godfrey in the District Court of Johnson County, Kansas. On May 6, 2003, the respondent forwarded a proposed Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) to CUNA Mutual Group, the administrator of Mr. Godfrey's IRA account. However, because of a problem, the funds in the IRA account were not distributed. During the summer of 2003, Ms. Godfrey placed a number of telephone calls to the respondent. The respondent failed to keep Ms. Godfrey informed regarding the status of the QDRO. Because so much time passed without having the IRA funds distributed and because the respondent failed to keep Ms. Godfrey informed regarding the status of the QDRO, on August 29, 2003, Ms. Godfrey filed a complaint against her with the Disciplinary Administrator's office. On September 8, 2003, Alexander M. Walczak wrote to the respondent and asked her to provide him with a written response to the complaint within 15 days. She failed to respond to the letter. Accordingly, Mr. Walczak docketed the complaint for investigation. Thereafter, John M. Parisi was appointed to investigate Ms. Godfrey's complaint. On November 20, 2003, Mr. Parisi wrote to the respondent, reminded her that she had not provided a written response as requested by Mr. Walczak, and requested that she provide a written response within 7 days. She did not comply with Mr. Parisi's request. On December 2, 2003, Mr. Parisi again wrote to the respondent. He informed her that he must have her written response by December 15, 2003, or he would submit his report without her input. On December 16, 2003, Mr. Parisi received her hand-delivered written response to the initial complaint. After receiving the respondent's written response, on January 5, 2004, Mr. Parisi wrote to her and asked for additional information. Specifically, he asked her to provide (1) a copy of the facsimile transmission sheet regarding the July 2003 correspondence from CUNA, (2) a copy of any documentation that she scheduled and confirmed an appointment with Ms. Godfrey, (3) a copy of any correspondence or documentation that would confirm that she had contacted Mr. Godfrey requesting a copy of his most recent IRA statement, (4) a copy of any documentation or communications she had with Ms. Godfrey regarding the delay in resolving the QDRO, and (5) a copy of the transmittal letter to CUNA from August 2003 when she forwarded a revised QDRO. The respondent did not respond to Mr. Parisi's January 5, 2004, letter, nor did she provide Mr. Parisi with the requested documentation.