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In re Bonn2/3/2005
This disciplinary proceeding comes before the Supreme Court pursuant to Article III, Rule 6(d), of the Supreme Court Rules of Disciplinary Procedure. The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court (board) has forwarded its recommendation that the respondent, Mark C. Bonn (respondent), be monitored in his practice of law by a member of the bar for a period of twelve months. On January 6, 2005, the respondent appeared before the Court pursuant to an order directing him to show cause why he should not be disciplined. After consideration of the findings and recommendation of the board, the arguments of Disciplinary Counsel, and a statement from the respondent, it is the opinion of this Court that discipline should be imposed. However, for the reasons set forth below we depart from the sanction recommended by the board, and we publicly censure the respondent in addition to requiring that his practice be monitored.
The factual allegations leading to these proceedings were not disputed. The respondent has been a member of the bar of this State since 1993. In 2002, he represented a client, Joseph W. Simmons (Simmons), in a claim for damages based on a personal injury . In August 2002, respondent negotiated a $4,385 settlement of Simmons's claim. At the time the settlement check was received, respondent did not maintain a client account. The proceeds from the settlement were deposited into respondent's business checking account.
The respondent paid his client $1,900 from the settlement, paid himself the agreed upon attorney fee, and withheld the sum of $1,398 from the settlement to pay medical bills that the client owed to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and Hope Chiropractic. However, respondent failed to make timely payments of those bills to the medical providers and failed to maintain that money in his account.
In October 2003, after being notified that those bills had not been paid, Simmons filed a complaint against respondent with the board. In answering that complaint respondent admitted that he had not properly paid those medical bills, that he had failed to maintain that money in his account, and that he had converted that money for his own use. However, he had paid the outstanding bill to Our Lady of Fatima Hospital before July 2003, prior to the filing of the disciplinary complaint. The outstanding bill owed to Hope Chiropractic was paid by respondent on December 4, 2003.
Based upon these undisputed facts, the board concluded that respondent had violated Article V, Rules 1.15(a) and (b), and 8.4(c) of the Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct. In determining an appropriate level of sanction to recommend to this Court the board also considered substantial mitigation evidence respondent provided. The respondent has no prior disciplinary history. He maintained a law office in Providence until approximately two years ago, and maintained a client account until that time. He was forced to relocate his law office on short notice when the building in which his office was located was sold. He began practicing out of his home, and no longer maintained his client account. The respondent's father suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and he became responsible for his care. At the time the Simmons case was settled respondent had placed his father in an assisted-care facility. The respondent was having financial difficulty providing for this care, and he used the money withheld from Simmons's settlement to defray those costs.
The respondent was and is truly remorseful for his misconduct. He made no excuse for his actions, and the board found his testimony that he took the money on what he perceived to be a temporary basis, to be credible. The respondent has been
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