 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Attorney Grievance Commission v. Zuckerman4/13/2005
and ยง 10-306 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article, Md. Code (1989, 2000 Repl. Vol.), due to his failure to reconcile his trust account. No client complaints instigated the investigation. The misappropriation was deemed unintentional. There was no evidence of any theft of funds by anyone, no evidence of client loss from the shortfall of funds, and no additional errors were discovered after the initial shortfall. Id. at 185, 844 A.2d at 400.
Although we took into consideration as mitigation in Sperling that the misappropriation was unintentional, the attorney's remorse, and his cooperation with Bar Counsel (to correct the shortfall and accounting problems in his practice), we noted that the shortfall was "quite serious" because it was "in particular one so large." Id. at 192, 844 A.2d at 404. In assessing Sperling's sanction, we acknowledged Bar Counsel's warning that Sperling's failure to manage his attorney trust account for several years exposed his clients to risk over that lengthy period. In addition, Bar Counsel argued that the length of time-from May 2002 to January 2003-between when Sperling became aware of the shortfall and when he corrected the balance supported a sanction of indefinite suspension, with a right to reapply no sooner than six months. In settling instead on a ninety day minimum sit-out period, we also rejected Sperling's request for a reprimand, in part because, in a similar set of circumstances, an attorney without a prior disciplinary history in another case received an indefinite suspension with a right to reapply no sooner than ninety days. Id. at 192-93, 844 A.2d at 405 (citing Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. DiCicco, 369 Md. 662, 802 A.2d 1024 (2002)).
We suspended DiCicco for numerous violations of MRPC 1.15 (a) and 8.4(a) after he repeatedly used his attorney escrow account for his personal interests. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. DiCicco, 369 Md. 662, 675-76, 802 A.2d 1024, 1027 (2002). The hearing judge in DiCicco noted that there were at least eleven instances of misconduct involving different clients (unexplained low and negative balances from 1997 to 1999) and disbursement checks from DiCicco's attorney trust account that appeared to be unrelated to any of his clients' matters. Id. at 670-71, 802 A.2d at 1018-19. In ordering his indefinite suspension with a right to seek reinstatement no sooner than ninety days, we considered several mitigating factors. Among them was a lack of evidence that any client suffered a financial loss from DiCicco's misconduct, which misconduct lacked any fraudulent intent. Id. at 688, 802 A.2d at 1028. We noted that DiCicco had no record of prior disciplinary problems in his then thirty-eight year membership in the Maryland Bar. Id.
At the lesser end of the sanction spectrum from Sperling and DiCicco is Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Adams, 349 Md. 86, 706 A.2d 1080 (1998). In Adams, we reviewed an attorney's misconduct regarding his attorney operating account and involving but a single client. We ordered an indefinite suspension with a right to reapply no sooner than thirty days. Adams represented his client before the Comptroller of the Treasury in negotiating an outstanding tax delinquency. Id. at 91, 706 A.2d at 1082. After settling on a $2,000.00 payment to the Comptroller, Adams drafted a check from his attorney operating account to pay this amount. This check was returned for insufficient funds because Adams' client had not given him $2,000.00 to pay the Comptroller and the attorney's operating account had a negative balance at the time the check was drafted. Adams subsequently received funds from the client, albeit in an amount insufficient to pay fully the negotiated tax bill. Adams deposited these funds i
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Maryland Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|