Opinion ID: 2615622
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: prompt delivery of funds to third person

Text: ¶ 9 Rule 1.15(b), ORPC, requires prompt delivery of funds or other property to a client or third person, who is entitled to receive the funds. In State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association v. Wilkins, 1995 OK 59, ¶¶ 22-23, 898 P.2d 147, 151, the respondent in that case failed to notify a client that he had received payments from her ex-husband. On one occasion he did not pay her for five weeks and on another occasion, he took three months. Additionally, he did not promptly pay another client's medical bills as he agreed to do. The Court found these failures to be a violation of Rule 1.15(b). The Court also found that Wilkins had failed to keep his clients reasonably informed about the status of their cases, had commingled funds, and engaged in dishonest conduct. The Court suspended him for six months. In State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association v. Lavelle, 1995 OK 96, 904 P.2d 78, the respondent in that case agreed to pay the client's doctor, but delayed for about one year, and misrepresented his actions to the doctor. The Court also found that Lavelle forged another client's name on a settlement check, and misrepresented the facts to both the client and the Bar Association. The Court disbarred the respondent. ¶ 10 The record in the case before us reveals that the respondent retained, from July 1996, to April 4, 1997, $439.00 owed to the U.S. Army, with no legal excuse for that retention of funds. We find that the respondent violated Rule 1.15(b), ORPC, by this action.