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Cleveland Bar Association v. Rus11/2/2005
Submitted June 28, 2005
{ } Respondent, Vladimir Michael Rus, of Lakewood, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0023776, was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1981.
{ } On January 12, 2005, relator, Cleveland Bar Association, filed an amended complaint charging respondent with professional misconduct. A panel of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline held a hearing and issued findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a recommended sanction, all of which the board adopted.
Misconduct
{ } In 1997, the water pipes in the Cleveland home of Rose A. Huffman burst while she was asleep. When Huffman awoke and stepped out of bed, her feet landed in hot water.
{ } Huffman then hired respondent to represent her, and he filed a personal-injury lawsuit on her behalf in 1999. The case was removed to federal court, and respondent reached a settlement with the defendant's counsel in May 2001. In connection with that settlement, a "Full and Final Release" was purportedly signed by Huffman in June 2001. Respondent himself signed that release twice, both as a witness and as a notary for Huffman's signature, and then returned the signed release to the defendant's counsel. Consistent with the lawyers' settlement discussions, an $85,000 settlement check payable to "Rose Huffman & Vladimir M. Rus, her attorney" was sent to respondent, was purportedly endorsed by Huffman and respondent, and was deposited into respondent's trust account on June 21, 2001.
{ } Huffman, however, was unaware that her case had been settled, had not signed the release that bears her purported signature, and had not endorsed the settlement check that was payable to her. In fact, she first learned about the settlement two years later, when her aunt checked with the federal court and discovered that the case had been settled in May 2001. Huffman then made a number of telephone calls to respondent's office, and after some delay, respondent agreed to meet with her. When they met in 2003, respondent still did not tell Huffman that he had settled her case and did not pay her any of the proceeds from the settlement.
{ } Then, in October 2003, Huffman met with the attorney who had represented the defendant in her lawsuit, and he showed her the signed documents confirming that the case had in fact been settled in 2001. Armed with that proof, Huffman again called respondent and left a voicemail message telling him that she had met with the defendant's lawyer, had seen the settlement papers, and wanted her share of the settlement proceeds. Respondent returned the call and told Huffman that he would send her a check. In November 2003, Huffman received a $57,000 check drawn on respondent's trust account and made payable to Huffman; however, it was not signed by the respondent, and Huffman's bank refused to accept it. Finally, several days later, respondent sent a valid $57,000 check to Huffman.
{ } When questioned by relator, respondent offered little explanation for his conduct. He claimed that he could not recall the circumstances surrounding the signing of the settlement documents in 2001, but denied that he had signed Huffman's name to the release or the settlement check, both of which bear her purported signature. As for the delay between his receipt of the settlement proceeds in June 2001 and his issuance of a check to Huffman for her share of those proceeds in November 2003, respondent said, "There certainly was that delay and I have no explanation for it."
{ } Respondent also testified that the settlement proceeds were in his trust account throughout the two-year period between his receipt of the settlement check from the defendant in 20
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