 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State ex rel Counsel for Discipline of the Nebraska Supreme Court v. Muia11/7/2003
Original action. Judgment of suspension.
INTRODUCTION
On April 8, 2003, formal charges were filed by the office of the Counsel for Discipline of the Nebraska Supreme Court, relator, against respondent, Paul M. Muia. Respondent's answer disputed the allegations. A referee was appointed and heard evidence. The referee filed a report on September 19, 2003. With respect to the single count in the charges, the referee concluded that respondent's conduct had breached disciplinary rules of the Code of Professional Responsibility and his oath as an attorney. See Neb. Rev. Stat. ยง 7-104 (Reissue 1997). The referee recommended that respondent be suspended from the practice of law for 4 months. Neither relator nor respondent filed exceptions to the referee's report. On September 30, relator filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings under Neb. Ct. R. of Discipline 10(L) (rev. 2001).
FACTS
Respondent was admitted to the practice of law in the State of Nebraska on September 14, 1990. He has practiced in Douglas County. The substance of the referee's findings may be summarized as follows: In June 1998, Janice Russell retained respondent to represent her in a medical malpractice action involving her right knee. The referee found that respondent agreed to represent Russell in her malpractice case even though respondent had no prior experience handling medical malpractice actions. Respondent advised Russell that there would be certain costs involved in litigating her case and that she would be responsible for those costs. Respondent requested a $1,500 advance from Russell to pay for these costs. Russell did not have the full $1,500, and she and respondent agreed that she would make an initial payment of $250, and then pay $100 a month to respondent to pay for costs incurred in litigating her malpractice action. The referee found that between June and December 1998, Russell made periodic payments to respondent totaling $600. Russell made no further payments after December.
The referee determined that respondent secured medical records relating to Russell's condition, for which he paid $100.27 from the moneys advanced by Russell. The referee found, however, that respondent did little else to advance Russell's medical malpractice action. The referee found that the respondent failed to contact outside experts, failed to speak with Russell's treating physicians, and failed to research the applicable statute of limitations. Furthermore, the record reflects that at no time did respondent actually file a lawsuit on behalf of Russell. According to the referee's report, " hen . . . Russell's payments stopped in December 1998, [respondent] seemed to lose interest [in the case]." The referee determined that respondent performed no work on Russell's medical malpractice action after February 1999.
The referee found that on August 9, 2000, respondent wrote Russell a letter informing her that he was ending his representation of her case. According to the referee, respondent "essentially dropped . . . Russell, without ever filing a lawsuit, without ever advising her concerning the statute of limitations, and without ever helping her secure other representation."
The referee also found that respondent "fail " to properly handle Russell's advanced payment of costs. According to the referee's report, respondent failed to deposit one of Russell's advances into his attorney trust account, although the referee found that respondent did not intentionally fail to make this deposit. The referee found that respondent ultimately repaid to Russell all of her advanced costs, except for the $100.27 expended for medical records.
The referee found by clear
Page 1 2 3 Nebraska Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|