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Richland County Bar Association v. Brickley12/4/2002
97 Ohio St.3d ___
Submitted August 27, 2002
. We are asked in this case to determine the sanction for an attorney who neglected or otherwise mishandled the cases of 15 different clients and who failed to respond to requests for information during the investigation of this misconduct. The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline found that respondent, Barry F. Brickley of Mansfield, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0011435, committed these acts and thereby violated several Disciplinary Rules and Gov.Bar R. V. The board recommended that respondent be indefinitely suspended from the practice of law with specific conditions to be met before reinstatement will be considered. We agree that respondent's misconduct and the mitigating circumstances surrounding it, particularly his depression and alcoholism, justify an indefinite suspension.
. In an amended complaint filed on March 15, 2002, relators, Disciplinary Counsel and the Richland County Bar Association, charged respondent with numerous violations of the Code of Professional Responsibility and Gov.Bar R. V(4)(G). Relators and respondent subsequently entered into stipulations concerning the alleged misconduct and mitigating circumstances underlying the complaint. A panel of the board heard the cause and made the following findings.
I. Misconduct
A.
. In 1999, respondent violated DR 6-101(A)(3) (neglecting an entrusted legal matter) and 7-101(A)(2) (failing to carry out a contract for professional services) by accepting $750 from a client to prepare and file documents for the appointment of a guardian for the client's sister. Respondent prepared the documents and his client signed them, but respondent never filed them.
B.
. Respondent violated DR 6-101(A)(3) by failing to file a Qualified Domestic Relations Order for a client after her divorce was finalized in December 1999. The client stood to receive one-half of the value of her ex-husband's 401(k) fund from the divorce decree. The client repeatedly asked respondent to complete the work and he promised that he would, but he never did.
C.
. In 1999, respondent violated DR 6-101(A)(3), 7-101(A)(1) (failing to seek client's lawful objectives), and 7-101(A)(2). He failed to respond to a motion for summary judgment while defending a client in a civil suit, and then he did not file a motion for relief from the resulting $25,965.70 judgment against his client as he had promised. And in a separate civil case against the same client, respondent failed to answer the complaint, and a default judgment was entered against the client.
D.
. Respondent also violated Gov.Bar R. V(4)(G) by failing to cooperate in the Disciplinary Counsel's investigation of grievances concerning the three clients mentioned in subsections A, B, and C, as well as two other clients. From December 1999 through April 2001, respondent failed to answer numerous certified letters of inquiry in these matters for which he or his agent had signed the return receipt.
E.
. In 1996, respondent violated DR 2-106 (charging an illegal or clearly excessive fee), 6-101(A)(3), 7-101(A)(2), and 9-102(B)(4) (failing to promptly return client's funds) after accepting $520 from a client to establish a guardianship for the client's aunt. Respondent never filed the guardianship papers and failed to return the client's telephone calls about the matter. At one point, respondent promised a bar association investigator that he would remedy the situation, but he failed to return the money paid to him as a retainer.
F.
. In 1998, respondent
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