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Stark County Bar Association v. Watterson9/22/2004
Submitted March 16, 2004
{ } Respondent, Tim M. Watterson of Canton, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0028264, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1982. On December 10, 2001, relator, Stark County Bar Association, charged respondent with four counts of professional misconduct, including violations of DR 2-106(A) (barring a lawyer from charging excessive legal fees) and 6-101(A)(3) (barring a lawyer from neglecting a client's case).
{ } A panel of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline heard the cause on August 28, 2003, after 20 months of discovery efforts and preliminary legal proceedings. The panel made findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a recommendation. The board adopted the panel's report, including its recommendation to dismiss the fourth count of the complaint for insufficient proof of the charged neglect.
{ } After serving for years as a city and county assistant prosecutor in northern and northeastern Ohio, respondent began his own private law practice in 1994. He described his practice as modest. The grievances underlying relator's complaint arose from clients whom respondent represented in civil actions between 1998 and 2001.
{ } Before evaluating the events underlying the complaint, the panel reviewed the extensive prehearing proceedings. Adopting the panel's report, the board found that after being served with the complaint, respondent made four successive requests for additional time to obtain counsel and answer. All four requests were granted, but even with these extensions, respondent filed his answer pro se.
{ } A final hearing on the merits was scheduled for July 26, 2002. At the beginning of that month, respondent moved for a 90-day continuance to pursue discovery and retain counsel. The panel chair granted his request, and the hearing was rescheduled for October 29, 2002. Respondent was also given leave to file a motion for summary judgment on or before September 30, 2002.
{ } On September 30, 2002, respondent requested that relator be removed and that the second hearing date be continued. Respondent argued for relator's removal because in cases underlying two of these client grievances, the opposing parties had been represented by another attorney in the law firms with which relator's counsel and relator's investigator were associated. The chair denied the request to remove but granted a continuance on the condition that respondent obtain counsel and have his counsel enter an appearance by October 21, 2002.
{ } Counsel for respondent subsequently entered her appearance on October 18, 2002, and the hearing was rescheduled again, this time for March 28, 2003. The chair established a new January 24, 2003 deadline for filing any further motion to disqualify and set February 10, 2003, as the new deadline for respondent to move for summary judgment.
{ } Respondent later discharged his attorney, and in December 2002, that attorney moved for leave to withdraw. The panel chair granted this motion on December 17, 2002, retaining the existing procedural deadlines and final hearing date.
{ } During a teleconference on January 31, 2003, the panel chair learned that respondent had twice unilaterally canceled in response to notices of deposition and had been subpoenaed for a February 3, 2003 deposition. When respondent revealed during the teleconference that he could not attend the third scheduled deposition, the panel chair ordered him to attend a deposition within the first week of February 2003. On respondent's request to renew his motion to remove counsel for relator, the chair ordered that respondent could pursue removal only with leave because the J
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