L.l\...Ycr Disciplinary Actions pri vil ege
[0
practice law suspended for three
(3) years on January 4, 2007, when [he Arkansas Su preme Co urr, in No. 06-6 19, affirmed [he Co mmi ttee Findings & O rder fil ed December 16, 2005, after a public heari ng co nducted on December 9. 2005. o n a compla int filed by Rees hema Britt of Litde Rock in Case No. C PC 2005-083, for violation of Model Rules 1.4(a), 1.4(b), 5.5(a), 8.4(c), and 8.4(d). Reeshema Britt of Little Rock was injured in a maror vehicl e collision in February 2001 in which the ocher driver was at fa ult. She became Mr. Walker's cl ient for this matter in August 2002. Mr. Walker's Arka nsas law li cense was suspended in another matte r effective April 2 1, 2003, for o ne yea r, and hi s license has J
never been rein stated. By June 11 . 2003. Mr. Walker had received a serdemenr offe r of $5,500, whi ch was declined by Ms. Britt, as shown by M f . Walker's lertcr ro her of that date o n th e letterh ead of La rry Dunklin , his form er parmer o r associate attorn ey in the firm of Walker & DunkJin . Ms. Brirr th ereafter had su bstanti al difficuJry obtaini ng inform ati o n fro m Mr. \Valker or M r. Dunklin about her marrero in April 2004, after the expiration of the statU(e of limitation fo r her claim, she lea rned no lawsui t had been filed in her claim. She consuhed with ano rney Luther Sutter. She then was abl e to meet with Mr. Walker o n May 3, 2004. He [Old her he would try [0 get the $5,500 offer reinstated and her medical bills taken care of in some fas hion, with him to receive a one-third fee of any recovery. She d ecl ined and hired M r. Sutter to pursue relief. In August 2004, Mr. Surrer filed suit for legal malpractice against Mr. Dunklin and Mr. Walker in th e Brirr m atter. On Ap ril 14, 2005 , judgment for $75,000 was awa rded aga inst Mr. Dunklin and Mr. Walker in favor of M s. Brin on her legal malpractice cla im.
REPRIMAND:
No. cpe 2006-09 1, for violat ion of Model Rules 1.2(a), 1.3, and 8.4(d). Ms. Co n.,.l,
la[ions of Rules 1.1 , 1.8(h)( I), 1.8(h)(2) and 8.4(d). Mr. Depper was also fined $500 and
who speaks very little English, hired Bennett in Nove mber of 2004 to appeal an adve rse decision of th e Arkansas Workers' C ompensati o n Commiss ion. Her daughter,
o rdered to pay restitution to Ms. Lee in the amo unt of $8500 wim credit for most o f that the amo unt he had already paid vo lun tarily to her. Ms. Lee hired Mr. Depper dur-
Na m aly, occas io nal ly accompan ied her to vis its with Bennen and served as a transla-
ingJanuary 2003 to pursue a civil matter o n her behalf in connecrion with a perso nal
tor. M s. Co n ez obtained rh e fil e from her
injury maner. M s. Lee had been involved in
prev ious attorney for Benn ett's review. When he rece ived the fi le, Bennen realized
a ca r accident in Jan uary 2003. M r. Deppe r acted diligently for the first year he had [he
char m ere was limired rim e in whi ch to file
matter.
the noti ce of appeal. Although he drafted rhe notice of appeal, Bennett pl aced it into
cause of acrio n was nor fil ed prior £0 the running of the statute of limitation, whi ch
his Correz. office file, bue he did not file it.
caused Ms. Lee's claim to be barred. Mr.
Mistakenly believing tha[ he had filed [he
Depper was not thorough enough in his rep-
not ice of appeal, Benn ett informed Namaly
resenta ti on of Ms. Lee to either settle rhe matter or file a lawsuit prior to [h e expira-
tha[ he had fil ed [he appeal.
Bentonville. Arkansas, was reprimanded by Co mmittee Findings & Order fi led January
It was later
determin ed that Benn en had nOt filed the
tion of the stature of limitation.
appeal.
learning of the error, Mr. Depper contacted
Upon
ROBERT L. DEPPER,JR., Bar No. 81046,
Ms. Lee and negotiated with Ms. Lee for payment of mo ney which they believed she
of EI Dorado, Arkansas. was reprimanded
wo uld have netted fro m a se ttlement of her
by Committee Consent Findings & Order
personal injury claims. Ms. Lee accepted the offer and was paid what she would have
filed March 16,2007, on a Complai nt filed by Ruby Lee in Case No. 2006-110, for vio-
netted in m e settlement proceeds. However,
ELECTRICAL ACCIDENTS Paul D. Mixon, Ph.D., P.E. Engineering Co nsultant
P.O . Box 3338 State University, AR 72467 (870) 972-2088 (870) 972-3948 FAX pmixo n @astate.edu
pauLmixo n@yahoo.com
•
Accident Investigation and Analysis
•
Co ntact Cases a nd E lectrocutio n s
• Electrical Inj uries • Property and Eq uipm ent Damage •
BRUCE J. BENNETT, Bar No. 92140, of
H owever, me complaint in rhe
Electrical Fires
• Safety Code Compliance • Experr Witness • Disputes Settl ed
17,2007, on a co mplaint fil ed by Ms. Rosa Elena Cortez of Rogers, Arkansas, in Case Vol. 42 No. 21Spring 2007
n,C Arkansas Lawycr
37