Opinion ID: 1199701
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: failure to respond to disciplinary authority

Text: ¶ 23 Rule 8.1(b), ORPC, provides that a lawyer shall not knowingly fail to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary authority. Rule 5.2, RGDP, provides that a copy of the grievance be served on the lawyer, who shall make a written response containing a full and fair disclosure of all the facts and circumstances pertaining to the respondent lawyer's alleged misconduct. Failure to answer within twenty days after service of the grievance, or after further time granted by the General Counsel, shall be grounds for discipline. ¶ 24 The first request for an accounting by the Office of General Counsel was by letter dated July 26, 1996. Without going into detail, several letters followed, and the respondent made promises to provide an accounting. The respondent was deposed on November 20, 1996, because his responses were unsatisfactory. More promises were made for an accounting. The final accounting was dated July 10, 1997, almost a year after it was promised to the Office of General Counsel. ¶ 25 The respondent's defense is that his computer malfunctioned and he lost the billing information in more than 50 files, including Mrs. Booth's bill. He claimed that the delay in producing a final accounting was the result of having to reconstruct her bill by examining extensive files by hand. The respondent argued that the computer malfunction was briefed extensively and exhibits were attached to support the malfunction. ¶ 26 The Bar Association answers that the respondent did not provide evidence of the computer malfunction to the trial panel. The Bar Association asserts that the respondent is confused as to when the computer crashed and that in his deposition and in the hearing before the tribunal, he gave dates of the malfunction of 1991, 1992, and 1993. Then in respondent's brief, he claimed to have been representing Mr. and Mrs. Booth for more than five years at the time of the malfunction. Since they retained the respondent in November 1991, the malfunction must have occurred in late 1996 or early 1997. But by that time, Mrs. Booth had already filed her complaint with the Bar Association after numerous attempts to obtain an accounting from the respondent. ¶ 27 The Bar Association states that although the respondent claims that he documented this computer malfunction to the Bar Association, that no such documents were received. Certainly none were entered into evidence before the trial panel, even though the panel specifically asked for the documentation. During the hearing, the respondent testified that he did not find any particular document pertaining to the computer crash. ¶ 28 But now, in his answer brief, he refers the Court to Respondent's Brief in Support of Respondent's Response to Complaint, filed November 25, 1997, and containing exhibits 11 through 18, which he claims document his computer malfunction. The documents are dated from August 24,1996, into 1997. But in the respondent's written answer to the General Counsel's Office, dated July 8, 1997, and which is respondent's own exhibit number 4 before the trial panel, he claimed that the hard disk crashed on his computer in 1993. It would appear from respondent's own exhibits that he cannot decide when this alleged malfunction occurred. We find the respondent's defense to be lacking in credibility. ¶ 29 Even though respondent claims that he cooperated with the Bar Association in the investigation of this bar matter, the record shows otherwise. Long, unexcused delays in responding to the requests of the Office of General Counsel in investigating is a violation of Rule 8.1(b), ORPC, and Rule 5.2, RGDP.