Opinion ID: 1904276
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: john j. williams, jr.

Text: Respondent represented John J. Williams, Jr., who qualified on November 9, 1972 as executor of the estate of his late sister, Annette W. Frank. She left a son as sole heir. Respondent did not comply with a September 9, 1974 court order requiring the executor to file an accounting within 60 days. Respondent maintained he was trying to reach a settlement with the heir concerning an allegation that the deceased Mrs. Frank, who with her brother, Mr. Williams, had been co-executors of the estate of their late father, had misappropriated funds of the father's estate thus depriving Mr. Williams of his rightful share. Respondent and Mr. Williams felt that all of the assets in the Frank estate were in fact assets held in trust under her father's estate. Although an Order to Show Cause was issued in January 1975 to compel Mr. Williams to explain why he should not provide an accounting, neither the executor nor residents of his household would accept service. Respondent maintained that Mr. Williams was in the hospital at that time and could not be served. The hearing on the order to show cause was continued a number of times because of Respondent's alleged incapacity due to an automobile accident on May 17, 1975. On February 27, 1975, the trial court issued an order requiring an accounting be filed within 45 days or Mr. Williams would be committed to the county jail. Respondent's motion to the Appellate Division for leave to appeal was denied on May 5, 1975. When another order to show cause was issued on April 23, 1975, Respondent, on May 8, 1975, filed a motion for a stay and leave to appeal with the Appellate Division without mentioning that an earlier motion had been denied. The Appellate Division on June 18, 1975, denied Respondent's second application for leave to appeal. On July 8, 1975, Respondent served a third motion for a stay and leave to appeal upon the county surrogate. Ultimately, an order was entered by the trial court on July 25, 1975, directing that Mr. Williams be confined in the county jail until he complied with the September 9, 1974 order to file an accounting. On August 18, 1975, the accounting was filed. A court hearing on the accounting was scheduled for October 10, 1975. On the day before, Respondent telephoned the judge's chambers and was advised that he personally had to be present at the 9 a.m. hearing. On the day of the hearing, Respondent telephoned the judge's chambers at 10:35 a.m., stating he would be there by 11 a.m.. At 11:40 a.m., he again telephoned the judge's chambers, but this time said he could not be there because of medical reasons. Later, on the same day, the court imposed a $250 sanction against Respondent. Respondent neither appealed the sanction, nor requested a rehearing on it. It was not paid until after the court filed a complaint against Respondent on November 3, 1975. In his letter to the then Central Ethics unit, the trial court charged that Respondent's failure to comply with the order imposing sanctions violated DR 1-102(A)(5). The court also noted that there may have been a violation of DR 7-102(A)(1) and (B)(1) in Respondent's representation of Mr. Williams because Williams was in a conflict of interest as co-executor of his father's estate and executor of his sister's estate. Respondent filed an answer to the complaint which did not deal directly with the allegations but attempted to explain the merits of the case. Respondent did not appear at the scheduled May 11, 1983 Ethics Committee hearing. The presenter placed on the record the substance of the complaint. No testimony was taken. The committee concluded that Respondent's conduct was clearly unethical and unprofessional because he knowingly sought to delay the conclusion of the estate and the court proceeding by not preparing and filing the required accountings. The Committee believed this was done to harass or injure Mrs. Frank's heir. It further found that Respondent's conduct helped perpetrate a fraud upon the court because Respondent was aware of the inherent conflict of his client in the two estates. The committee found that Respondent engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice by failing to attend the court hearing on October 10, 1975, and by having failed to appeal or pay the sanction.