Opinion ID: 1255297
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the personal injury case

Text: On the evening of April 5, 1986, the Hopewells were injured in an automobile accident when their car ran into a herd of cows that were on the highway. The Hopewells initially sought representation from Sherman Furey (Furey) in the matter, but Furey later withdrew from the case due to a conflict of interest. After Furey's withdrawal, the Hopewells contacted Jenkins who agreed to represent the Hopewells in this case. After Jenkins agreed to represent the Hopewells, Mrs. Hopewell received the case files from Furey and mailed the files to Jenkins. Jenkins then told the Hopewells that Stosich would be their contact attorney on the case. Mr. Hopewell testified that he considered Stosich to be the primary attorney in the personal injury case, but that he believed that Jenkins and Stosich would be working together on the case. Stosich was the attorney of record in the personal injury case. He prepared the complaint in the case, prepared a verification of the complaint for the Hopewells' execution, and filed the complaint. The Hopewells' previous attorney, Furey, had warned the Hopewells that the limitations period for filing the case would expire on April 5, 1988, so, in March 1988, Mrs. Hopewell called Stosich to remind him of the limitations period. Despite Mrs. Hopewell's reminder of the pending limitations date, the case was filed on April 6, 1988, one day after the statute of limitations expired. After the case was filed, no service of process was made on any of the defendants in the personal injury case. Notice of dismissal of the case was sent to Stosich at the JLO on January 4, 1989. Neither Jenkins nor Stosich responded to the notice, and the dismissal was entered on February 22, 1989. The dismissal order was sent to Stosich at the JLO. The Hopewells were not informed of the dismissal of the personal injury case by either Stosich or Jenkins. The Hopewells made periodic inquiries to Jenkins and Stosich, both by telephone and through the mail, seeking information about the status of this case. When the Hopewells reached either Jenkins or Stosich, both lawyers gave the Hopewells incorrect information about the case. The Hopewells were told that the case had been filed and that the lawyers were awaiting a court date. The Hopewells did not learn that the case had been dismissed until eight months after the dismissal when they called the courthouse themselves. Jenkins and Stosich failed to communicate any aspect of the case with the Hopewells, except that in November 1989 Jenkins told the Hopewells that the case was without merit and that the JLO could not do anything further on this case. As to the personal injury case, the hearing committee concluded that Jenkins and Stosich each did not diligently pursue the case, did not reasonably inform the Hopewells of the status of the case, did not comply with reasonable requests for information, and did not explain the case to the Hopewells to permit them to make informed decisions about the case. The hearing committee found that Jenkins and Stosich each violated Rules 1.3, 1.4(a), and 1.4(b) of the I.R.P.C.