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In re Comish12/13/2004
response to the questions of a hearing committee member, Mr. Matthews said that he was not aware of any misunderstanding by Mr. Caffey beyond that point, even when he received two more letters from Mr. Caffey addressed to him as an "Attorney at Law."
On cross-examination, Mr. Matthews testified that respondent "supervised everything that went on" in the office. Mr. Matthews denied telling Mr. Caffey that he is an attorney in response to Mr. Caffey's specific question on that point. Similarly, Mr. Matthews denied the allegations made by Ms. Chaffers that he held himself out to her to be an attorney. Mr. Matthews denied any recollection of seeing the letters from Ms. Chaffers addressed to him as "Attorney at Law," though he responded to one of the letters; Mr. Matthews later admitted that he may have seen the letters, but simply overlooked the "attorney" reference. In short, Mr. Matthews testified that he was unaware of any misconception on the part of any person that he was a licensed attorney, but "if became aware of it I certainly corrected it."
Respondent's testimony was generally consistent with the testimony of Mr. Matthews. Respondent testified that when he learned of the letter written by Mr. Caffey addressing Mr. Matthews as "Attorney at Law," he instructed Mr. Matthews to correct the situation immediately. Respondent then instructed his secretary, Ms. Hall, that "all correspondence, all introductions must be as paralegal." Respondent admitted that his procedures in this regard were not formal, however, and he also admitted that he did not know whether Mr. Matthews followed these instructions. Nevertheless, respondent claimed that he adequately supervised Mr. Matthews and pointed out that Mr. Matthews was never left alone "to run that office or make any decisions." Respondent said that even on the occasions when he was out of town, other lawyers with whom he shared office space were "left in charge."
Hearing Committee Recommendation
The hearing committee accepted the stipulations of fact agreed to by respondent and the ODC. Considering the evidence presented at the hearing, the committee made the following additional factual findings:
In Count I, concerning the White matter, the committee found that Mr. Matthews dealt exclusively with Mr. Caffey as the legal representative of the Whites; that respondent did not take the necessary steps to advise those dealing with Mr. Matthews, and in particular Mr. Caffey, that Mr. Matthews is not an attorney, but in fact is a paralegal; and that Mr. Caffey believed Mr. Matthews to be an attorney.
In Count II, the Ihsan matter, the committee found that respondent had no formal policy in place to prevent third parties from getting the impression that Mr. Matthews is an attorney, and that respondent did not follow up to correct the impression that Mr. Matthews is an attorney.
Finally, in Count III, the Collins matter, the committee found that as a result of respondent's action, Mrs. Collins has not received the property that her husband attempted to leave her in his will; that Mrs. Collins is still unsure of respondent's representation of her in this matter; that Mrs. Collins has received no benefit but has suffered loss as a result of respondent's actions; and that respondent did not notify Mrs. Collins of her rights to proceed against him.
Based on these factual findings, the committee determined that respondent violated the Rules of Professional Conduct as charged in the formal charges. With respect to Count I, the committee found that respondent engaged in conduct that was prejudicial to the administration of justice when he allowed Mr. Matthews, a disbarred lawyer, to
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