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A lawyer who submitted inaccurate fee petitions and affidavits to a court in connection with a juvenile justice program, was suspended for two years (suspension partially stayed on probation with conditions). A lawyer who shifted time so that bills that were sent to a client did not show the full extent of the time he spent on the client’s case and later filed copies of those bills with the court in support of a fee petition, was suspended for 90 days.
It also seems when there are fee issues, that failure to pay restitution ends up hurting the lawyer in the disciplinary process. V. Commingling and conversion is a serious problem as well: • • • • •
A lawyer who mismanaged funds belonging to a domestic relations client was suspended for three years and until further order of Court (suspension partially stayed on probation with conditions). A lawyer was suspended for one year (suspension partially stayed on probation with conditions) due to bad bookkeeping practices. He failed to preserve the identity of money he had been holding in escrow in connection with a real estate transaction. A lawyer who misappropriated estate and trust funds and collected an unreasonable fee, was disbarred. A lawyer was suspended for two years and until further of Court, for among other things converting client funds, failing to refund unearned fees, failing to enter into a written contingent agreement in a personal injury case, and shoplifting from a grocery store. If you think you have to take thousands and thousands of dollars to be sanctioned, you may be wrong. An attorney in Maryland was disbarred for misappropriating a total of $1,100.00 in two bankruptcy cases.
VI. Lawyers who continue to practice despite being suspended, obviously risk further disciplinary action: • •
A lawyer who authored an appellate brief on behalf of a client while that attorney was suspended, and used another attorney’s name, was suspended for three months. A lawyer who was taken off the master roll of attorneys for not complying with continuing legal education requirements and continued to handle matters, was censured and ordered to complete a program.
VII. Disciplinary agencies have now begun to impose discipline for personal misconduct unrelated to the practice of law: • • • • •
A lawyer who among other things, video taped sexual encounters that he had with women, without their knowledge or consent, was suspended for two years and until further order of Court. A lawyer who made unsolicited and improper sexual advances towards a female client and the wife of another client, was suspended for one year. A lawyer was suspended for sixty days for violating an order of protection that his ex-wife had obtained against him. He also used personal identity information from his ex-wife to obtain a loan. A New Jersey lawyer was censured for taking food and drink from a blind refreshment stand vendor without paying for the items! A New Jersey lawyer was disbarred for creating phony time records, having sex with a client and submitting expense vouchers for dinners with women he was dating, including two women he met through the internet. The client he slept with was a divorce client. Both the lawyer and the divorce client denied a relationship, but emails between them told a different story. The divorce client was attempting to reconcile with her husband at the time.
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