Opinion ID: 1689462
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count III: Rolek

Text: On April 15, 1999, Dr. Dennis Rolek retained Sullins to challenge findings of the Department of Human Services (DHS) that Rolek abused his son. Rolek gave Sullins a $1000 retainer fee which Sullins cashed the same day and deposited $700 into a trust account. Rolek had thirty days from April 1, 1999, within which to appeal the final DHS decision. Rolek had great difficulty contacting Sullins to see if Sullins filed the appeal. Sullins sent the petition for judicial review to the clerk on May 3, 1999. It was filed on May 4. The DHS filed a motion to dismiss. Sullins did not file a resistance to the motion and he did not appear at the hearing. Sullins later filed a written resistance to the motion and appeared at a later hearing. The court dismissed the case as it lacked jurisdiction because the petition was not timely filed (thirty days after the April 1 letter). Sullins admitted there was no excuse for his failure to appear at the original hearing. Sullins attempts to skirt responsibility for the dismissal of Rolek's petition claiming Rolek's time to appeal expired before Rolek even sought Sullins' assistance. This is simply not true. With regard to the $1000 retainer fee, Sullins acknowledged he should have refunded the money to Rolek. The Commission found Sullins neglected Rolek's case. Though the initial $1000 retainer fee was not excessive, the Commission concluded Sullins effectively collected an unreasonable fee by not refunding the money Sullins admittedly owed Rolek. The Commission concluded Sullins violated DR 6-101(A)(3) (neglect of client's matter), 7-101(A) (fail to render services to client), 2-106 (collect clearly excessive fee), and 1-102(A)(1)(violate disciplinary rule), (5) (conduct prejudicial to justice), and (6) (conduct adversely reflects on fitness to practice law).