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Attorney Grievance Commission v. Zuckerman4/13/2005
his failure is a violation of the Rules.
V. Rule 1.15 and BOP § 10-304 (Failure to Deposit Trust Money)
A Findings of Fact
"Respondent represented individuals in divorce, criminal and bankruptcy cases. In those cases, he charged flat fees, some of which were paid in advance at least in part. Petitioner's Exhibit 8. Respondent deposited these fees in his operating account up until 2003 Petitioner's Exhibit 8, pages 81-84. Respondent's clients would sometimes pay him the balance on or shortly before the day of trial. Petitioner's Exhibit 7, page 21. Those payments were also deposited in his operating account. Respondent now deposits any advance fee payments in his trust account.
"Respondent's testimony and his answers to interrogatories show that he never deposited advance payments of flat fees in his trust account. This conclusion is also inferable from the fact that no advance payments were stolen by Ms. Becker, even though he handled criminal and divorce cases as well as personal injury . As he stated in his answers to interrogatories, respondent would collect the full fee a few days before the trial and not deposit it in his trust account, even though he had not completed the case.
B. Conclusion of Law: Respondent Violated Rule 1.15 and BOP § 10-304
"The full flat fee is not earned until all the work associated with the fee is completed. Therefore, the deposit of an advance fee payment in the lawyer's operating account is a violation of the requirement of Rule 1.15 that the lawyer keep the client's property separate from his own and the requirement of BOP § 10-304 that a lawyer deposit trust money, which would include an advance fee payment, in a trust account. AGC v. McLaughlin, 813 A.2d 1145 (2002); ACG v. Blum, 818 A.2d 219 (2003).
VI. Violation of Rule 8.4 (Conduct Prejudicial to the Administration of Justice)
A. Findings of Fact and Conclusion of Law
"Respondent's repeated failures to pay either clients or medical providers as he was required to do was conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. The respondent's inactions both prevented the appropriate resolution of the client's matter and subjected his clients to potential collection actions by their medical providers. His failure to preserve client funds also endangered payment to his clients of funds belonging to them. For these reasons, respondent's conduct was prejudicial to the administration of justice.
CONCLUSION
"There are several mitigating factors in this case that must be acknowledged. In addition to the usual stresses encountered in conducting his law practice, for several years immediately prior to the occurrence of Ms. Becker's defalcations the respondent was affected by significant additional stresses. These included the dissolution of his marriage, the illness, imminency and occurrence of the death of his former wife from cancer, which left respondent with the sole responsibility to care for his pre-teen son. Respondent also continues to suffer from the consequences of injuries he had sustained in an automobile collision sustained many years ago, including recurring surgical procedures. When it came to his attention, Ms. Becker's theft added considerably to respondent's already ample burden of stress. Despite all such stress factors, respondent continued to exert his best efforts in conducting his law practice. Respondent has been under voluntary psychological counseling in an effort to mitigate the effects of stresses to which he has been and to which he is still exposed, and states that he has made significant progress.
"Respondent, who appears to have sustained the gre
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