Opinion ID: 1398528
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: manigault matter

Text: Attorney admitted the following allegations: Attorney was the buyer's attorney for the closing of a sale of land in Berkeley County by Clifton Manigault in August 1995. From the closing, Attorney retained $3,086.50, of which $450.00 was his fee, $2,488.50 was for taxes on the property to be sent by him to the Department of Revenue, and $148.00 was for deed stamps. Attorney failed to pay the Department of Revenue until September 9, 1996, after Manigault complained to the Board on August 20, 1996. Attorney also failed to record the deed until after Manigault complained. The Panel found that Attorney breached the Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 407, SCACR, by failing to deliver promptly to a client or to a third person such funds client or person was entitled to receive (Rule 1.15(b)); by failing to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client (Rule 1.3); and by failing to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and to promptly comply with reasonable requests for information (Rule 1.4(a)). Additionally, Attorney failed to cooperate with the investigations of the Board. See In re Treacy, 277 S.C. 514, 290 S.E.2d 240 (1982). The Panel was impressed with Attorney's honesty and his desire for treatment and rehabilitation. It was convinced that Attorney's failings did not represent a willingness to allow or condone wrongdoing, but were the result of a single, isolated incident of major depression stemming from numerous difficult circumstances. In its March 24, 1997 report, the Panel recommended that Attorney's sanction be a public reprimand conditioned upon repayment of $500.00 to Jenkins and $1000.00 to Davis. Furthermore, the Panel recommended that Attorney be barred from active daily practice unless he agrees to participate in a mentor program and to file psychological reports not less frequently than every six months until such time that his psychiatrist certifies that the current mental illness has ended and has been successfully treated. The Interim Review Committee voted to adopt the Panel's findings of fact and conclusions of law; however, it disagreed with the suggested sanction. It unanimously recommended that Attorney be suspended from the practice of law for 30 days, and in light of the fact that Attorney is presently on administrative suspension for his failure to pay Bar dues, [1] that he be placed on disability inactive status.