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In re Complaint as to the Conduct of Eadie12/6/2001
accused of that date. The accused failed to appear despite the court's efforts to contact him. The court held the accused in contempt and, in its contempt order, noted that the accused's affidavit accompanying his motion for a new trial was "full of inaccuracies." The court also denied Cassady's motion for a new trial. Following a subsequent hearing on the defense motion for sanctions against the accused for having filed the motion for a new trial, the trial court imposed sanctions on the accused for filing the baseless motion for a new trial and for making false statements in the affidavit that accompanied the motion.
In its cause of complaint relating to the Cassady matter, the Bar charged the accused with violating DR 6-101(A), DR 6-101(B), DR 7-106(C)(1), and DR 7-106(C)(7).
The trial panel concluded that the accused had failed to represent Cassady competently, in violation of DR 6-101(A), and that he intentionally or habitually had violated procedural and evidentiary rules, in violation of DR 7-106(C)(7). However, the trial panel concluded that the Bar had not shown that the accused had neglected a legal matter in representing Cassady, in violation of DR 6-101(B), or that he had alluded to inadmissible evidence, in violation of DR 7-106(C)(1).
D. Martin Matter
The accused represented Martin in a personal injury case for injuries that she received when a kitchen cabinet in her apartment fell on her. The complaint that the accused filed on Martin's behalf named many defendants, including various subcontractors and others, some of whom later provided evidence that they should not have been named as defendants.
Several of the defendants named in the complaint filed motions for summary judgment, and the accused delegated responsibility for opposing those motions to a new associate in his office, Gresham. Gresham had minimal legal experience and never before had opposed a motion for summary judgment. The accused was aware of Gresham's inexperience, but he assigned the matter to Gresham nonetheless.
To respond to each defendant's motion for summary judgment, Gresham needed to submit documents or affidavits on Martin's behalf that would show the court that there was a genuine issue of material fact requiring a trial. ORCP 47 C. Rather than doing so, Gresham opposed the motions orally, relying solely on legal arguments. The trial court granted the defense motions, then stated:
"I will be fairly blunt. I suspect that at least half the motions I just granted could have been overcome by appropriate documents had they been filed. Without their being filed, I can't do the right thing. I have to do the legally required thing * * *."
Thereafter, the trial court imposed sanctions on the accused for failing to investigate information suggesting that claims against several of the defendants whom he had named in the complaint should have been dismissed. See ORCP 17 C (authorizing imposition of sanctions against lawyers who file pleadings not based on lawyer's "reasonable knowledge, information and belief, formed after the making of such inquiry as is reasonable under the circumstances"). According to the court, the accused's conduct was "the most egregious set of circumstances I have ever seen."
In its cause of complaint relating to the Martin matter, the Bar charged the accused with violating DR 6-101(A) and DR 6-101(B). The trial panel concluded that the accused did not represent Martin competently, in violation of DR 6-101(A). However, the trial panel concluded that the Bar had not shown that the accused had neglected a legal matter entrusted to him, and it therefore dismissed the charge under DR 6-101(B).
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