Opinion ID: 1530578
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Complaint of Olivia Cornish

Text: Evidence and testimony were presented at trial to establish the following facts relating to this Complaint. This Complaint resulted from Mr. Milliken's representation of William Cornish, an individual who was a fugitive from the law at the time he sought legal assistance. Federal charges were pending against Mr. Cornish, his co-defendant had been apprehended, and was in the last phase of his trial. Mr. Cornish allegedly asked the Respondent to monitor the trial to find out the outcome and to determine whether there was evidence incriminating Mr. Cornish. Mr. Milliken approached Ms. Cornish several times for money and actually received seven cash payments totaling $5,000.00 from Ms. Cornish on behalf of her son. Mr. Milliken testified that he told Ms. Cornish exactly how much to pay him for each service. Randolph Cornish, the client's brother, testified that Mr. Milliken was told by Ms. Cornish to communicate through Randolph regarding the case and the fees, but that the Respondent continued to demand the money from Ms. Cornish and never contacted Randolph. Ms. Cornish stated that she was nervous about the lack of progress. She noticed that the Respondent never gave progress reports. Furthermore, although the Respondent testified that he met with detectives and the federal prosecutor, consulted with Mr. Cornish's girlfriend and did research, he produced no evidence of any kind at the hearing to substantiate such assertions. He had no accounting of time spent on the Cornish matters. He testified that he did take notes on research but did not keep them, nor did the Respondent keep notes regarding the alleged visits to the District Court to see if a warrant was outstanding for Mr. Cornish. Respondent explained that he did not feel the records were necessary. It is unclear from the evidence presented at the hearing precisely what Mr. Milliken's responsibilities entailed because it seems that Mr. Cornish was the only person who spoke to the Respondent about the scope of his representation. In fact, Ms. Cornish testified that she was called to the Grand Jury and expected to see Mr. Milliken there because she thought he was her lawyer. He did not appear. The Respondent indicated during his cross-examination of Ms. Cornish that the above responsibilities, i.e. meeting with the federal prosecutors and detectives, etc., were his function as Mr. Cornish's attorney. The Respondent also testified that he attempted to update Ms. Cornish but she admittedly did not want to hear the details. Mr. Milliken stated that he had several conversations with the federal prosecutor to see if he could get a deal for Mr. Cornish. Both Ms. Cornish and her son, Randolph, believed that Mr. Milliken was hired to work out a plea with the federal prosecutor. Testimony indicates that there was some understanding that Mr. Milliken was to monitor a federal trial and engage in plea negotiations with the federal prosecutor. However, Mr. Milliken is not a member of the Federal Bar. Mr. Milliken indicated that he knew he couldn't represent Mr. Cornish in federal court, but he thought he could do the work leading up to the court date and suggested that Mr. Cornish could represent himself. Ultimately when William was caught and put in prison, Mr. Milliken was nowhere to be found. Ms. Cornish was forced to hire another attorney to represent her son because she never heard from Mr. Milliken again, nor did she know how to contact him. Subsequently, Ms. Cornish filed a suit against the Respondent and was awarded a civil judgment for $5000.00 by default. Respondent stated that he did not contest the suit because the time just got away from [him]. Mr. Milliken neither paid nor appealed the judgment. He testified that he did not pay it because he didn't feel she [was] entitled to it. The facts established by clear and convincing evidence at the trial support a conclusion by this Court that Mr. Milliken violated Maryland Rule 1.16(d). There is absolutely no credible evidence to show that Mr. Milliken performed any work on behalf of Mr. Cornish and he never refunded the money Ms. Cornish was entitled to receive as a fee that had not been earned. Having accepted fees to work out a plea agreement in a Court before which he was not admitted to practice, doing no work and failing to be present at any hearings directly involving his client, Mr. Milliken also violated Maryland Rule 8.4(d) which deems it to be professional misconduct when a lawyer engage[s] in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice. Similarly, as a lawyer who has failed to pay a judgment, which he neither contested nor appealed, because he doesn't feel that Ms. Cornish is entitled to the money, he has in this Court's view engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. Finally, as admitted by the Respondent in Petitioner's Exhibit 4, it is clear that he violated Maryland Rule 8.1(b) by failing to respond to a lawful demand for information, in that he refused to answer letters from Bar Counsel regarding the above Complaint.