Opinion ID: 2166592
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: recommendation for sanctions

Text: The Hearing Committee has recommended Respondent be suspended for a year and a day. It has done so by comparing the present case with In re (Hazel P.) Tucker, M 13-75/S 56-78 (D.C.Ct.App. Nov. 13, 1978). Ms. Tucker received rent monies for a twelve year period as attorney for and the administratrix of an estate. The Court was never informed of the existence of these assets. In Tucker, the respondent was found to have neglected a legal matter by failing to file reports and engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice when she did not respond to Bar Counsel's questions. However, the twelve year period of concealing assets from the Court is a factor not present here and is, in the opinion of the Board, a distinction with a difference. Respondent's period of neglect in this case was terminated by fairly prompt action by the Court. This shorter period of neglect does not fully mitigate the neglect by Ms. Jones but is to be considered. In the Tucker case there were intentional actions by the respondent of hiding assets; that element is not present in the case of Ms. Jones. This is not to say that the present situation is not serious. Respondent accepted a fiduciary position, caring for the financial well-being of Ms. Chatham. When Respondent accepted the position of Conservator, she was simultaneously obligated to comply with the full range of duties of the position. Here, we find the appropriate sanction for Ms. Jones to be a public censure. This result is supported by at least two prior decisions in this jurisdiction. In re Banks, 461 A.2d 1038 (D.C.1983), involved an attorney who failed to file appropriate motions and responsive pleadings for a group of clients challenging a will, after he had filed suit to initiate the proceedings. The respondent in that case was found in five separate instances to have neglected legal matters entrusted to him. The neglect was found to be unaggravated but essentially unmitigated. Id. at 1042. Banks also had received two prior informal admonitions. The other Code violations in the present case were absent in Banks but the five separate occasions of neglect in Banks rival the three different violations of the Disciplinary Rules by Ms. Jones. In re Gilchrist, 488 A.2d 1354 (D.C. 1985), concerned violations of Disciplinary Rule 9-103(A)(2) by the commingling of a client's funds and of Disciplinary Rule 9-103(B)(3) by the failure to maintain proper records of the client's funds. When our Court of Appeals reviewed the recommendation for public censure in the Gilchrist case, it was mindful that a number of commingling cases have resulted in the disbarment. In re Burka, supra , or suspension for a year and a day. In re Harrison, 461 A.2d 1034 (D.C.1983). Yet in Gilchrist the Court agreed with the recommended public censure because there was no evidence of misappropriation of the client's funds. Here there is a failure of Respondent to file the appropriate reports and to document the expenditure of the ward's funds. But, there is no evidence of misappropriation. We make the recommendation of a public censure knowing of the two prior informal admonitions received by Respondent, each of which generally involves the assistance of an attorney, a nonmember of the District of Columbia Bar, in the unauthorized practice of law in this jurisdiction. Each situation which resulted in an informal admonition is unrelated in character to the violations before us. We regard the question of the appropriate sanction in this case as a difficult one. The vulnerability of the ward and the failure of Respondent to fulfill the fiduciary responsibilities she knowingly accepted are very troubling aspects. These factors were not present in the Banks and the Gilchrist cases upon which we rely. Accordingly, we have given serious consideration to recommending a period of suspension. However, the failures of Respondent which we have previously detailed do not fall to the level of conduct involving dishonesty or deceit. In addition we do not agree with the conclusion of the Hearing Committee that Respondent presented no mitigating evidence. While evidence of mitigation was not neatly presented after the tentative finding of a disciplinary violation by the Hearing Committee, the record as a whole in this case does disclose the payment by Respondent before the hearing of the judgment ordered by the Superior Court for $2,209.89 plus the $400.00 for the costs of the Auditor-Master (Tr. 44). In this case, there was no conversion, and prompt payment of the judgment may produce the net effect of a possible benefit to, rather than a loss suffered by, Mrs. Chatham. While this conduct might fall short of comprehensive mitigation, it is favorable material and should be considered. In re Cope, 455 A.2d 1357, 1361-62 (D.C.1983). THEREFORE, the Board finds that Respondent has violated Disciplinary Rule 1-102(A)(5) through conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice; Disciplinary Rule 6-101(A)(3) for neglecting a legal matter entrusted to her; and Disciplinary Rule 9-103(B)(3) by failing to maintain complete records of her client's funds. The sanction recommended to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals is a public censure. BOARD ON PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY By: /s/ Francis D. Carter FRANCIS D. CARTER All members of the Board concur in this Report and Recommendation, except Ms. Keep who has filed a separate opinion dissenting as to the recommended sanction. DATE: April 9, 1986.