Opinion ID: 1283348
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 22

Heading: Kearney

Text: The referee found that Wintroub's conduct with respect to his representation of Kearney violated §§ 3-501.3 (diligence), 3-501.4 (communications), and 3-501.16 (declining or terminating representation). The referee made a factual finding that Wintroub accepted fees from Kearney after he clearly was aware he had been suspended from the practice of law. Implicit in this factual finding is the referee's rejection of Wintroub's contention that the $1,500 paid by Kearney was for work he performed for her prior to February 2006. [13,14] We conclude that there is no clear and convincing evidence that Wintroub either failed to communicate with Kearney or failed to diligently work on her case, as the record is almost entirely silent on these issues. We conclude, however, that there is clear and convincing evidence that Wintroub received fees from Kearney in February 2006, after he had been suspended, and retained fees that he did not earn. The record thus supports the finding that he violated § 3-501.16.