Opinion ID: 2394866
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Count 5 Complaint of Jennifer A. Cooper

Text: Ms. Cooper retained Mr. Albright to represent her in a custody matter in March 2008, for a retainer fee of twelve hundred dollars. Because of Ms. Cooper's inability to get responses from Mr. Albright, she filed her own petition in family court in August 2008. In October 2008, Ms. Cooper hired a new attorney to represent her interests. Ms. Cooper set forth that Mr. Albright failed to return her client file despite repeated requests for the same, failed to provide an itemization of services, and failed to return the unused retainer. The HPS found that Mr. Albright failed to adequately communicate with Ms. Cooper in violation of Rule 1.4(b) of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. [11] Because he failed to diligently pursue his client's interests, Mr. Albright violated Rule 1.3 of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. [12] For his failure to return Ms. Cooper's file and to refund the unused retainer fee, Mr. Albright was found to have violated Rule 1.16(d) of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. [13] Due to Mr. Albright's acceptance of a retainer fee and his failure to provide the services for which he was retained, he violated Rules 1.5 [14] and 8.4(c) and (d) [15] of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. Finally, the HPS found Mr. Albright violated Rule 8.1(b) [16] of the Rules of Professional Conduct for his failure to respond to requests for information by the ODC.