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In re Petition for Disciplinary Action Against Pierce12/1/2005
The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (Director) filed a petition for disciplinary action against respondent Brian Todd Pierce in May 2005 setting forth four counts of professional misconduct. The petition alleges that Pierce misappropriated client funds, made a misleading statement regarding the misappropriation, issued numerous insufficient funds checks, repeatedly failed to appear in court on client matters, and failed to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation. On May 23, 2005, the Director filed a supplementary petition for disciplinary action against Pierce, alleging neglect, an improper business transaction with a client, failure to obey a court order and court rules, failure to pay a court reporter, failure to appear in court, and failure to cooperate with opposing counsel.
In May 2005, in response to a motion by the Director, we temporarily suspended Pierce from the practice of law pending final disposition of this disciplinary proceeding. After Pierce failed to answer the petition for disciplinary action, we granted the Director's motion for summary relief and deemed the allegations of the petition admitted pursuant to Rule 13(b) of the Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility (RLPR). In light of the admitted allegations of misappropriation, misrepresentation, neglect, non-cooperation with disciplinary authorities, and other violations, Pierce is hereby disbarred.
The violations recounted in the petition occurred during the period from December 2003 through March 2005. First, in or about June 2003, L.F. retained Pierce to represent her in a marital dissolution. On or about December 15, 2003, L.F. signed a retainer agreement at Pierce's request. In January 2004, L.F. and her husband signed a marital termination agreement, which provided that L.F. would receive $30,000 from her husband in two separate installments of $15,000 each. The settlement was contingent on L.F.'s withdrawal of her restitution and personal injury claims against her husband.
In mid-January 2004, Pierce received the first check for $15,000 from L.F.'s husband's counsel. Pierce deposited the check in his client trust account and disbursed $10,000, one-third of the entire settlement amount, to himself pursuant to the retainer agreement. Pierce disbursed the remaining $5,000 to L.F. At the end of January 2004, Pierce received the second payment of $15,000, again made payable to his client trust account, and deposited the check. Pierce did not disburse any of the second installment to L.F., despite the fact that she was entitled to the full amount. Instead, he disbursed the $15,000 to himself for his personal use. In May and June 2004, Pierce's law partner made payments totaling $15,000 to L.F. to compensate her for the funds misappropriated by Pierce. Neither Pierce nor his partner informed L.F. of the misappropriation. Pierce's misappropriation of L.F.'s settlement funds violated Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 1.5(d)(1), 1.15(c)(4), and 8.4(c).
The second count of misconduct relates to Pierce's response to the Director's disciplinary investigation of Pierce's handling of the L.F. matter. In January 2005, the Director mailed a notice of investigation to Pierce regarding the L.F. matter. The notice requested a written response and copies of all documents relating to Pierce's handling of L.F.'s funds. Pierce did not respond to the notice. On January 27 and February 4, the Director mailed two additional requests for information to Pierce. On February 7, the Director's Office called Pierce and left a telephone message, which Pierce did not return. Pierce did not respond to the Director's inquiries until February 9. In his response, Pierce failed to address hi
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