 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
In re Kleinpeter11/28/2000
cident, as found by the Hearing Committee, stemmed from an emotionally charged divorce which, although four years old, had ended shortly before the credit card incident with a bitter community property settlement. This foolhardy conduct, although very serious, was an isolated incident in which respondent made full restitution and the federal authorities decided not to pursue charges, after which respondent himself reported the incident to Disciplinary Counsel.
As to the Bates matter, Disciplinary Counsel admitted that charging the normal one-third contingency fee, rather than the specially quoted one-fourth fee, likely was inadvertent. Moreover, according to the evidence apparently accepted by the disciplinary agencies, respondent's secretary never advised him that Bates threatened to file a disciplinary complaint, but merely told him Bates had been reported to the credit bureau because of his failure to pay her medical expenses, whereupon he directed the secretary to send Bates a check for $500 for her inconvenience. The secretary drafted and mailed the letter that accompanied the check. Giving deference to the disciplinary agencies, I would not find any disciplinary violations based on this conduct.
The remaining charges in the Bates matter--the commingling of funds and the failure to pay the medical expenses--warrant (along with the credit card incident) a penalty in line with the recommendations of the disciplinary agencies.
Therefore, while I concur in a thirty-six month suspension, I dissent in part and would suspend the penalty and impose probation with conditions, including an actual suspension of eighteen months.
Page 1 2 3 4 5 Louisiana Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|