Opinion ID: 1971625
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Bank Accounts and the Missing Check

Text: While Mr. Cloud's conduct relating to his three bank accounts cannot be condoned, we think the Board was correct in finding that it did not rise to the level of recklessness. As both the hearing committee and the Board found, Mr. Cloud maintained at least $10,254.93 in one or more accounts until he honestly, but mistakenly, interpreted Mr. Andersen's letter to mean that Kemper was reducing its lien amount by $5,311.90. This court has held, contrary to Bar Counsel's assertion, that when an attorney places entrusted funds in an operating account instead of an escrow account, but maintains a balance in the operating account that is sufficient to cover the entrusted funds, the attorney is guilty of commingling and, assuming there are no aggravating factors, only simple negligence. See In re Micheel, 610 A.2d at 233-234. Furthermore, after Mr. Cloud concluded (mistakenly) that he owed Kemper only a fraction of the original amount, he purchased a cashier's check for $5,000 to deliver to Mr. Andersen. That check, unfortunately, was lost, but Mr. Cloud's testimony about its disappearance was found credible by the hearing committee. Given that finding, [10] Bar Counsel was unable to prove that the funds had been used without authorization, and thus that they had been misappropriated. With the actual fate of the cashier's check unknown even to this day, an inference of reckless conduct cannot be based simply on its disappearance. Mr. Cloud's conduct, even if deemed to be unauthorized use of the money, did not display the conscious indifference necessary for a finding of recklessness. See In re Anderson, 778 A.2d at 339. Thus a finding of reckless misappropriation on this ground is not justified. See In re Ingram, 584 A.2d 602, 603 (D.C. 1991); In re Gilchrist, 488 A.2d at 1355-1356.