Opinion ID: 2512380
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Misrepresentation to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel

Text: ¶ 29 The hearing officer concluded that Mr. Cramer was more than negligent but not knowing when he represented to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel that he had deposited Mr. Garcia's April 9 and April 12 advance fee payments into his Trust Account. ¶ 30 The WSBA asked Mr. Cramer to provide billing and trust records (including canceled checks, ledger cards, disbursal statement, and monthly billings) related to Mr. Garcia. Mr. Cramer argues that the misrepresentation was an honest mistake and that he had no responsibility to inquire more than he did before responding. On April 16, 2002, Mr. Cramer made a deposit into his Trust Account from another source for the same amount, $2,500. Mr. Cramer sent a letter to the WSBA with the April 2002 bank statement from the Trust Account showing that deposit. Unequivocally, he wrote [a]lso attached is a copy of my [Trust Account] statement dated 4/30/02. Mr. Garcia's $2,500.00 payment was deposited on 4/16/2002. Ex. 216. ¶ 31 The deposit in the Trust Account was not from Mr. Garcia. Mr. Garcia's funds had been placed in the Business Account by Mr. Cramer, and Mr. Cramer did not send a copy of his Business Account statement to the WSBA. Additionally, the Trust Account statement did not identify the source of the deposit for $2,500. It was not until several months later that the WSBA discovered Mr. Cramer's misrepresentation when Mr. Garcia's wife forwarded to the WSBA copies of cancelled checks, showing Mr. Cramer's Business Account number. ¶ 32 Mr. Cramer's version of the facts is plausible. The burglary at his office shortly before the WSBA's request for documents explain Mr. Cramer's difficulty in giving accurate information, though he could easily have obtained copies from his own bank. His belief that a deposit of $2,500 in his Trust Account during the time period in question was from Mr. Garcia is possible. However, the hearing officer's finding that Mr. Garcia acted more than negligently but less than knowingly is also compelling. Mr. Cramer knew that Mr. Garcia had filed a bar complaint against him. Mr. Cramer reviewed Mr. Garcia's file prior to producing the bank statements. And even though the Trust Account statement did not provide any collaborating indication that the April 16 deposit was from Mr. Garcia, Mr. Cramer unreservedly wrote to the WSBA that the payment was from Mr. Garcia without making any effort to confirm the accuracy of the statement. Finally, the hearing officer found that Mr. Cramer should have known that the April 16 deposit was not from Mr. Garcia because he knew from his billing statements that Mr. Garcia's funds were paid on April 12, not April 16. The hearing officer, faced with conflicting testimony, found that the WSBA had met its burden of proof. The Board unanimously agreed. The findings are supported by substantial evidence.