Opinion ID: 2072414
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: cllent v.a.counts viii, ix and x

Text: ¶ 48. Reitz does not now challenge the referee's findings and conclusions with respect to the three counts of misconduct involving client V.A. The facts supporting these counts are these: On June 15, 1998, V.A. was a passenger in a car stopped at a red light when that car was rear-ended by an unlicensed cab driver. About a week later, both V.A. and the driver of the car retained Mandelman to represent them in personal injury actions. V.A. provided Mandelman with a copy of a police incident report. ¶ 49. At Mandelman's direction, V.A. sought chiropractic treatment incurring a bill of $4000. V.A. submitted that bill to her health insurance company but payment was refused. ¶ 50. When Reitz became a partner with Mandelman in March 1999, V.A.'s file was transferred to him. On March 26, 1999, Reitz wrote to the cab company in an effort to determine the identity of the cab driver, but he received no response. More than seven months later, Reitz sent a follow-up letter. The cab company responded on November 18, 1999 asserting that the driver could not be located without more information. ¶ 51. V.A. testified at Reitz's disciplinary hearing that during this time, Reitz would occasionally tell her that her case was going well, and on other occasions, would say it was not. V.A. claimed that Reitz led her to believe that he was dealing with the cab company's insurer and that the insurance company was denying liability. In addition, V.A. testified that she would periodically call Reitz to check on the status of her case but she began to feel that he was ignoring it. According to V.A., during this period, she made more than 20 calls to Reitz and even though she left messages for him, he never returned her calls. V.A. further testified that for over a year, she had received no information from Reitz about the difficulties he claimed to be having with her case; nor did he ever tell her that he intended to drop her case because he could not identify the cab driver. Reitz ultimately decided to drop V.A.'s case but then failed to send a disengagement letter to her. Then the statute of limitations barring V.A.'s personal injury claim expired on June 15, 2001. ¶ 52. V.A. later filed a grievance with OLR. She and Reitz subsequently reached a financial settlement with Reitz agreeing to pay her $2,000 and to hold her harmless for the chiropractic fees she had incurred. ¶ 53. This course of conduct led to Counts VIII, IX, and X of the OLR complaint. As noted, Reitz does not dispute the referee's finding of misconduct regarding these three counts:  Count VIIIBy failing to pursue [V.A.'s] personal injury case in a timely manner, Reitz failed to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in his representation of [V.A.] in violation of 20:1.3.  Count IXBy failing to advise [V.A.] that Reitz was unable to identify the defendant in [V.A.'s] case and of the resulting difficulty in proceeding with the case, Reitz failed to explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit [V.A.] to make informed decisions regarding the representation, in violation of SCR 20:1.4(b). [11]  Count XBy failing to notify [V.A.] that Reitz was terminating the representation, Reitz failed to take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect [V.A.'s] interest, in violation of SCR 20:1.16(d). [12]