Opinion ID: 1418537
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Complaint of Rolland G. Jones

Text: This complaint was filed by a forwarding attorney, Rolland G. Jones of Flandreau, South Dakota. Mr. Jones had obtained a judgment in favor of Dr. B.T. Otey in Flandreau, South Dakota, against Charles Bowen in the amount of $908.94 with interest. Mr. Bowen subsequently moved to Kansas and was residing in Council Grove at the time the respondent accepted this collection. Respondent was unable to locate Mr. Bowen at first and six weeks passed before he acknowledged the forwarding attorney's letters. Mr. Bowen was finally located and respondent advised the forwarding attorney that Mr. Bowen was an unemployed carpenter with nine children and a sick wife and that he was receiving welfare assistance at this time. Three months went by without further correspondence. Then the forwarding attorney wrote two letters, one month apart, requesting a further report. The respondent responded and advised Mr. Jones that Mr. Bowen was still receiving welfare assistance and that he doubted if the account could be collected. The forwarding attorney Jones wrote three letters, one month apart, two to the respondent requesting a further report and one to the Grievance Committee of the Kansas Bar Association. Thereafter respondent advised the forwarding attorney of his unwillingness to proceed further on a contingent fee basis and suggested that the account was barred by the statute of limitations. The judgment in South Dakota had been obtained in November, 1960, and respondent's letter was written in October, 1970. Attorney Jones wrote back that a judgment had been obtained in March, 1961, in Shawnee County, Kansas. There is nothing in the record to indicate whether this judgment has been kept alive or has become dormant. (See K.S.A. 60-2403.) Between January, 1971, and June 3, 1974, when respondent was discharged by the forwarding attorney, respondent received nineteen letters from Mr. Jones and two letters from the Kansas Bar Association Grievance Committee. During this period respondent wrote Mr. Jones five times but failed to respond to the grievance committee. During this same period respondent remitted four payments of $10.00 each collected from Mr. Bowen. At the hearing respondent frankly admitted his failure to communicate with Mr. Jones and the grievance committee. He stated he should have withdrawn from the case at an early date in view of the limited probability of collecting any substantial portion of the amount owing. The conclusion adopted by the State Board on this complaint was that there had been a violation by respondent of the Code of Professional Responsibility, Rule No. 501, Canon 1, DR 1-102 (A) (6) which provides: (A) A lawyer shall not: .............. (6) Engage in any other conduct that adversely reflects on his fitness to practice law. (Rules of the Supreme Court, 214 Kan. lxxv.) There was no evidence that respondent failed to perform competently or failed to act honestly in remitting the funds actually collected. The hearing panel found he did the best job of collecting the account possible under the circumstances and he was successful in renewing the account by obtaining payments thereon. He received only $13.00 in compensation for his work and this amount would hardly cover the postage and stationery utilized in the correspondence. The problem which gave rise to the complaint was purely and simply a failure to answer all letters from the forwarding attorney. In a proceeding for discipline of an attorney the burden is greater than in an ordinary civil action, and to sustain the burden it must be shown by clear and satisfactory evidence that a violation of a particular disciplinary rule has occurred which warrants disciplinary action. ( In re Ratner, 194 Kan. 362, 399 P.2d 865; In re Phelps, 204 Kan. 16, 17, 459 P.2d 172, cert. den. 397 U.S. 916, 25 L.Ed.2d 97, 90 S.Ct. 922.) The findings and recommendations of the State Board of Law Examiners are advisory only and not binding on this court. ( In re Cox, 164 Kan. 160, 188 P.2d 652.) After reviewing the record on this complaint against Leo N. Johnson it is the collective conscience of this court that Leo N. Johnson should be acquitted of the complaint. In our view it has not been shown by clear and satisfactory evidence that the respondent's failure to communicate under the circumstances of this case amounted to conduct that adversely reflects on his fitness to practice law.