Opinion ID: 2544002
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count IThe Adams Matter

Text: In November 2005, Cedric Adams hired respondent to defend him in a criminal matter. In order to pay respondent's fee, Mr. Adams, who was incarcerated at the time, instructed his sister to give his income tax refund check to respondent. Thereafter, respondent was to deliver the check to Mr. Adams for endorsement, cash the check, and collect his fee. Contrary to Mr. Adams's instructions, respondent negotiated the check, collected his $3,000 fee, and sent the remaining balance to Mr. Adams's sister. When Mr. Adams's sister contacted the jail to inform her brother that the fee had been paid, she learned the criminal charges had been dropped. After being advised of the dismissal, respondent agreed to refund the fee. However, respondent failed to return the fee, and eventually stopped answering and/or returning phone calls from Mr. Adams's sister. In June 2006, Mr. Adams filed a disciplinary complaint against respondent. The complaint was forwarded to respondent's primary address in August 2006 and returned to the ODC marked unclaimed. Although the ODC made several more attempts to reach respondent, he did not respond to the complaint until February 2009. In his response, respondent admitted that he failed to return the unearned fee, despite Mr. Adams's request for a refund. [2] The ODC alleged respondent's conduct violated Rules 1.15(d) (failure to promptly deliver funds owed to a client or third person), 8.1(c) (failure to cooperate with the ODC in its investigation), 8.4(a) (violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct), and 8.4(c) (engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.