Opinion ID: 1828034
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Count 1Brown Matter

Text: In early November 1998, Dannette Brown, a Texas resident, retained respondent to represent her sister, Joyce Johnson, in a criminal matter. On November 9, 1998, Ms. Brown wired respondent $600 for his legal fee. Between November 10 and 12, 1998, Ms. Brown made numerous attempts to communicate with respondent by telephone, but was unable to reach him. She spoke with his office staff, who advised on each occasion that her sister would be released that night. However, Ms. Brown became concerned with respondent's progress in the matter and failure to communicate with her. As a result, she rented a vehicle and traveled from Texas to meet with respondent personally. When she finally met with him on November 23, 1999, she learned that he had not taken any action on her sister's behalf. Ms. Brown then discharged respondent and retained other counsel, who successfully obtained the release of her sister on December 3, 1998. After being discharged, respondent failed to refund the unearned fee to Ms. Brown. Thereafter, Ms. Brown filed a complaint with the ODC. The ODC forwarded a copy of the complaint to respondent, but he failed to reply to the ODC's request for information. As a result, the ODC was required to issue a subpoena compelling respondent to appear and produce documents at a scheduled deposition. Respondent eventually filed an untimely response, alleging he earned the entire fee by communicating with the trial judge about the matter.