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State ex rel Oklahoma Bar Association v. Schraeder6/18/2002
ndividual, but for that of the public. The disciplinary measure imposed upon an offending lawyer should be consistent with the discipline imposed upon other practitioners for similar acts of professional misconduct.
A lawyer's failure to respond to the bar's investigative inquiries is a serious offense. This court in State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Association v. Robb imposed a suspension of two years and one day for a lawyer's failure to respond to three client grievances or appear for depositions in response to subpoenas and for failure to respond to the disciplinary complaint.
The trial panel recommends a private reprimand as a fit discipline for respondent's breach of professional ethics. After a review of the record and the court's acceptance of the tendered mitigating factors, we hold that the appropriate disciplinary measure to be imposed is a thirty-day suspension of license to practice law. Today's decision is based upon the cumulative effect of the following factors: (1) respondent's utter failure promptly to respond to the bar's investigative inquires, (2) his lack of concern for a client's economic interest by refusal promptly to account for and restore the unearned portion of fees for nearly a three-year period and (3) his disregard for a client's right to know the status of her case. Although we take note that upon his own initiative respondent sought to determine if there was an underlying cause for his apathy and lost sense of career satisfaction and now seeks professional counseling on a continual basis, the standards to be followed are those that best protect the public and not those that shield the offending lawyer.
VI. SUMMARY
In sum, the record bears clear and convincing proof that respondent's participation in several episodes of unprofessional conduct violates the rules governing professional ethics. After a thorough review of the record and recognition of the tendered mitigating factors,
RESPONDENT'S LICENSE TO PRACTICE LAW STANDS ORDERED SUSPENDED FOR THIRTY (30) DAYS AND HE IS DIRECTED TO PAY THE COSTS OF THE INVESTIGATION, RECORD AND PROCEEDING IN THE AMOUNT OF $571.03, WHICH SHALL BECOME DUE NOT LATER THAN THIRTY (30) DAYS AFTER THIS OPINION BECOMES FINAL.
HARGRAVE, C.J., OPALA, KAUGER, SUMMERS, BOUDREAU and WINCHESTER, JJ., concur;
WATT, V.C.J., HODGES and LAVENDER, JJ., concur in part and dissent in part.
LAVENDER, J., with whom WATT, V.C.J., and HODGES, J., join, concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I would administer a public reprimand.
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