Attorney Discipline, 1218 WYBJ, Vol. 41 No. 6. 52
| Position | Vol. 41 6 Pg. 52 |
Disbarment
The Wyoming Supreme Court issued an order disbarring Utah lawyer Stuwert B. Johnson from the practice of law in Wyoming, effective November 1, 2018. The order of disbarment was issued upon the recommendation of the Board of Professional Conduct of the Wyoming State Bar, which held a hearing to determine the appropriate sanction for a variety of professional misconduct committed by Johnson in Utah, where his license to practice had been under suspension since February 2016. In consideration of the extent and nature of Johnson's misconduct, which included numerous incidents of negligent representation of clients, trust account violations, ignoring a subpoena issued by a Utah agency, five DUI arrests in a 10-month period and a plea of guilty to a bad check charge relating to his trust account, the Board of Professional Responsibility determined that disbarment was the appropriate sanction for Johnson's misconduct. The Wyoming Supreme Court adopted the Board's recommendation and issued an order of disbarment. Johnson was ordered to pay an administrative fee of $750.00 and costs of $1,912.56 to the Wyoming State Bar.
Suspension
The Wyoming Supreme Court issued an order suspending Casper attorney Kara Crawford-Fink from the practice of law for a period of 120 days, effective December 14, 2018. The Court's order consolidated two separate disciplinary matters in which the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Wyoming State Bar recommended Crawford-Fink's suspension.
The first matter involved Crawford-Fink's representation of a client in a divorce matter. The client paid a $5,000.00 fee at the outset. Crawford-Fink neglected to pursue the matter diligently and failed to maintain adequate communication with her client, who ultimately terminated Crawford-Fink's representation and retained other counsel. Crawford-Fink also charged an unreasonable fee for her work on the case. After the client discharged Crawford-Fink, Crawford-Fink failed to return all of the unearned portion of the fee. Crawford-Fink agreed that she committed multiple violations of Rules 1.3 (diligence), Rule 1.4 (communication with client), Rule 1.5 (fees) and Rule 1.16 (duties upon termination of representation. Crawford-Fink agreed to return $2,350.00, representing the remaining unearned portion of the fee, to the client...
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