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In re Comish12/13/2004
our office" represented Mr. Ihsan. Thereafter, Ms. Chaffers dealt exclusively with Mr. Matthews in connection with Mr. Ihsan's personal injury claim. Ms. Chaffers testified that she presently has no independent recollection of Mr. Ihsan's claims file, but in an affidavit dated June 12, 2000, Ms. Chaffers attested that Mr. Matthews represented to her that he was Mr. Ihsan's attorney, and that at no time did Mr. Matthews ever disclose to her that he did not have a license to practice law.
Mrs. Betty Collins testified to her efforts to determine the status of the legal matter involving her husband's undated will. Mrs. Collins said that when she telephoned respondent, she was always told that he "wasn't there." Mrs. Collins stopped by respondent's office more than fifteen times, but he was in on only three occasions. After Mrs. Collins filed a complaint with the ODC, respondent met with her and assured her that he would proceed with the matter. Nevertheless, the level of communication did not improve. Mrs. Collins testified that as of the date of the hearing, she was unsure whether respondent was still representing her in an effort to complete her husband's succession.
The ODC called Mr. Matthews to testify in person before the committee. Mr. Matthews testified that he and respondent are long-time friends, so when respondent needed some help at his law office, Mr. Matthews agreed to work for him. Mr. Matthews was paid a salary of $500 per week. Respondent's supervision was somewhat "informal," according to Mr. Matthews, though when his employment first started respondent was in the office on a regular basis. However, at some point, respondent began spending less time in the office.
With respect to the White matter, Mr. Matthews testified that he was introduced to Mrs. White and her son, Steven, as respondent's paralegal. This meeting occurred in the presence of respondent's secretary, Amanda Hall. Ms. Hall confirmed that the introduction was made in the manner Mr. Matthews described.
Later, Mr. Matthews went to Alexandria to collect information from Mrs. White concerning her husband's business affairs. As he was leaving the house with a folder full of documents, Mrs. White told him that she had written a check for the legal fees and put it in the folder. Mr. Matthews testified that he did not look at the check until he returned to the office later that afternoon, when he and respondent's secretary were dismayed to find that the check was payable to Mr. Matthews, not respondent. Because respondent was out of town, his secretary talked with him about the situation over the telephone. Respondent instructed Mr. Matthews to endorse the check and deposit it into his personal account, then write a check to the office for respondent's share of the funds. Respondent told Mr. Matthews he could keep the difference (over $2,000) so that he could buy a truck.
Concerning Mr. Caffey, Mr. Matthews testified that he identified himself as respondent's "legal assistant" when he first spoke with Mr. Caffey by telephone, and stated that he was contacting Mr. Caffey "at the request of Mr. Comish in connection with the ongoing handling of the White estate." Mr. Matthews stated that Mr. Caffey appeared to understand this, and so he did not consider it "necessary" to identify himself as a paralegal when he sent letters to Mr. Caffey. Finally, Mr. Matthews said that he "verbally" corrected Mr. Caffey when he sent the first letter addressed to Mr. Matthews as an attorney. Mr. Matthews also called the issue to respondent's attention, and respondent seemed satisfied with Mr. Matthews' explanation that he had spoken with Mr. Caffey and made him aware that he was mistaken in that regard. In
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