Opinion ID: 1215810
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: FOURTH CAUSE OF COMPLAINT (Deonna Anderson)

Text: The accused represented Deonna Anderson in an action filed in Multonomah County Circuit Court and assigned to Judge Harl H. Haas for trial, resulting in a jury verdict for the plaintiff on December 1, 1984, in the amount of $18,424. The defendant in the personal injury case asserted claims for an offset in the amount of personal injury protection benefits (PIP) previously paid by the defendant. At the accused's request, the defense attorney provided documentation of that claim in the amount of $10,530.58 to the accused on December 17, 1984. The accused failed to present a form of judgment, after being directed by Judge Haas to do so on January 28, 1985. A second hearing was held on January 31, 1985, and when the accused failed to appear, the court entered a partial judgment which resulted in the payment to the plaintiff of her share of the proceeds. A subsequent hearing regarding the balance of the judgment proceeds was held on April 1, 1985, and the accused submitted an order on May 15, 1985, which correctly granted the release of the balance of funds to the accused. We find that the accused advised the court at the April 1, 1985, hearing that the reason he had not presented a form of judgment in January was that he had waited for a clarification of the defendant's claim for the PIP set-offs. The accused was not waiting for clarification; he simply had failed to close the case. Further, the accused had no excuse to delay the presentation of a form of judgment from December 17, 1984, until forced to do so on May 15, 1985. The Trial Panel found and this court finds that the accused was dishonest to the court regarding the reasons for his failure to submit a form of judgment. Because the accused intentionally lied to Judge Haas about his reasons for failure to act, we find the accused guilty of violating former DR 1-102(A)(4) and former DR 6-101(A)(3) for his neglect in failing to submit a form of judgment.