Opinion ID: 2516942
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Timely good faith effort to make restitution

Text: ¶ 57 Trejo argues that the Board erred in failing to apply the mitigating factor of timely good faith effort to make restitution or to rectify the consequences of his misconduct. Restitution which is made upon the lawyer's own initiative should be considered as mitigating; lawyers who make restitution prior to the initiation of disciplinary proceedings present the best case for mitigation, while lawyers who make restitution later in the proceedings present a weaker case. ABA Standards std. 9.3 cmt. at 50. Trejo argues that this mitigating factor applies because he voluntarily waived thousands of dollars in attorney fees for the client whose payments were delayed due to his unethical trust accounting practices. ¶ 58 The hearing officer rejected Trejo's argument because the waiver was untimely. The delays in payment occurred in 2002 and 2003, and the check to the client bounced around April 29, 2003. Trejo continued to collect fees from the client at least until January 26, 2005, more than two years after the injury began. Additionally, Trejo waived the fee after the WSBA conducted two audits and commenced this disciplinary proceeding. ¶ 59 While Trejo's waiver of fees may have been in good faith, it is unclear whether the waiver actually constitutes restitution. The letter sent by Trejo to his client did not include an apology and did not mention the delay in payments. [21] We hold that the mitigating factor of a timely good faith effort to make restitution does not apply because any restitution on Trejo's part was untimely, followed the commencement of disciplinary proceedings, and failed to include any explanation to the client as to why the fees were being waived.