Opinion ID: 1536896
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Harm to Client

Text: 17. At the time Respondent failed to pay her medical bills, Ms. Fisher-Hammond's financial situation could only be described as precarious. A recently separated mother of two, she was working as a clerk in a warehouse packing shipments for $7 per hour to support herself and her children. Tr. 42-43, 66, 68. Respondent was well aware of Ms. Fisher-Hammond's very limited means, having been told by her that she could not afford to stay away from work for long despite her injuries (and having met with her after hours at her home for this reason), and having recently made submissions relating to lost wages on her behalf. Tr. 67-69; BX 7 at 5, 7. It was foreseeable that failing to meet these debt obligations would place Ms. Fisher-Hammond in a position of inability to pay her bills and thus damage her credit and subject her to pursuit by collections agencies. Tr. 66-68; see also Tr. 190-191 (Authorization and Assignment to Maryland Orthopedics leaves client on the hook in event of nonpayment). The Hearing Committee did not find Respondent's claim of unawareness of Ms. Fisher-Hammond's financial condition to be credible and specifically declined to credit that testimony. Tr. 311-312 (I would really not know anything about her personal finances.).