Opinion ID: 1699019
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 7

Heading: Carimi's practice of assessing interest

Text: Even though we have resolved the question of interest in this manner, we find it necessary to further comment on Carimi's interest practice. Although Carimi contends that he only passed through to Chittenden the interest that the bank charged, a close examination of the facts indicates otherwise. [27] Our review, as that noted by the bank expert, Joseph Martin, III, shows that although the bank charged simple interest on Carimi's line of credit, the method that Carimi used resulted in the compounding of interest. See supra at p. 8. In this respect, we find the trial court manifestly erred when it found that Carimi merely passed on to the client the interest the bank charged him. As such it appears that Carimi may have charged Chittenden more than the simple interest which he was required to pay. We further note that even though Carimi charged Chittenden's file with interest from the date that money was advanced, the testimony does not bear out that Carimi actually accessed his line of credit at the bank at that same time. As shown in the testimony of Carimi's former firm accountant, Carimi may not have had to draw from his line of credit for days or weeks later. Accordingly, it again appears that Carimi may have charged Chittenden for days of interest that he (Carimi) was not charged by the bank. We note these two examples because we find that this conduct may have implicated RPC Rule 1.8. In particular, because Carimi may have benefitted financially from this conduct, he would undoubtedly have improperly obtained an additional proprietary interest in the litigation. Nevertheless, because we have found that Carimi may only receive legal interest, and we have remanded this matter, we utilize this scenario only to expound on this rule and to caution the bar on the need for scrupulous adherence to the RPC so as to avoid ethical problems which may appear almost unnoticed in their practice.