Opinion ID: 2053103
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: andolena complaint

Text: Respondent was retained on behalf of William Cooper, 17, stepson of Charles A. Andolena, in 1976 concerning an automobile accident case. Respondent prepared a complaint to be filed in district court after determining when the statute of limitations would expire. He noted this date on an index card, which he affixed to the outside of the file, and gave the file to his secretary. However, the file was misplaced. When it was found, two months later, the statute of limitations had expired. Respondent took no action to file the complaint. During the two-year period following the initial meeting with respondent, Cooper telephoned respondent between five to seven times. According to Andolena, respondent advised Cooper: Don't worry, everything is in the works. Since Cooper was moving to Colorado, he gave his stepfather power of attorney to resolve this matter for him. Three weeks before Cooper left the state, respondent informed him that his secretary had forgotten to file the complaint and it was then too late to do so. To rectify the situation, respondent agreed to pay off Cooper's educational note of about $1800. However, two or three days later, Cooper returned with Andolena, who demanded $3,000 or he would file an ethics complaint or a law suit. Respondent gave Andolena two postdated checks because he did not have sufficient funds to pay the total amount at one time. The checks were dated September 15 and 29, 1978; each was for $1,500. When Andolena cashed the first check, it was returned by the bank for insufficient funds. The bank informed Andolena that the account was closed. When respondent was confronted with this, he explained that he had expected a large settlement but it had fallen through. He promised to pay Andolena $50 a week. He paid about $700.