Opinion ID: 2394866
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Count 2 Complaint of Richard F. Hart

Text: Mr. Hart retained Mr. Albright's services on April 18, 2005, to represent his interests in a misdemeanor criminal charge. Mr. Albright received a two thousand dollar retainer fee. In July 2005, Mr. Hart further retained Mr. Albright to represent him in a condemnation civil case, and paid a retainer fee of $1,500.00. The allegations made by Mr. Hart included the failure of Mr. Albright to adequately communicate with him, failure to keep him informed of the status of his cases, and failure to diligently pursue the matters. Mr. Hart terminated his relationship with Mr. Albright and subsequently retained new counsel and requested a refund of his retainer fees from Mr. Albright. Mr. Albright did not respond to Mr. Hart's requests and, further, failed to provide documentation requested by ODC to itemize the services provided to Mr. Hart. Because of the behavior detailed above, the HPS found that Mr. Albright failed to adequately communicate with Mr. Hart in violation of Rule 1.4(b) of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. [6] It was further determined that Mr. Albright failed to diligently pursue his client's interests, violating Rule 1.3 [7] of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Finally, Mr. Albright was found to have violated Rule 8.1 [8] of the Rules of Professional Conduct for his failure to provide an accounting of his services to ODC.