Disciplinary Case Summaries, 1017 COBJ, Vol. 46, No. 9 Pg. 78
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDING DISCIPLINARY JUDGE
No. 16PDJ084. People v. Breuer. 6/28/2017. Following a sanctions hearing, the PD1 disbarred Kelly Ann Breuer, attorney registration number 28558, effective August 2, 2017.
Breuer was hired to represent a client in a divorce case. She directed the client to transfer over $18,000 into her COLTAF trust account so that she could preserve the funds and later use them to satisfy the client's anticipated divorce settlement. But Breuer consumed the funds herself, preventing her client from fulfilling the terms of the separation agreement and the resulting court order. Moreover, Breuer misrepresented to the divorce court that she was safeguarding those funds when in fact she was consuming them. Breuer then abandoned her client, disregarded requests from disciplinary authorities, and failed to participate in this disciplinary proceeding.
In this matter, Breuer violated Colo. RPC 1.3 (a lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness when representing a client); Colo. RPC 1.4(a) (a lawyer shall reasonably communicate with the client); Colo. RPC 1.4(b) (a lawyer shall explain a matter so as to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation); Colo. RPC 1.15A(a) (a lawyer shall hold client property separate from the lawyer's own property); Colo. RPC 1.15A(b) (upon receiving funds or other property of a client or third person, a lawyer shall promptly deliver to the client or third person any funds or property that person is entitled to receive); Colo. RPC 1.15C(a) (a lawyer shall not withdraw cash from a trust account); Colo. RPC 1.16(d) (a lawyer shall protect a client's interests upon termination of the representation); Colo. RPC 3.3(a)(1) (a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal); Colo. RPC 3.4(c) (a lawyer shall not knowingly disobey an obligation under the rules of a tribunal); Colo. RPC 8.1(b) (a lawyer shall not knowingly fail to respond to a law ful demand for information from a disciplinary authority); and Colo. RPC 8.4(c) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation).
No. 17PDJ051. People v. Cook. 8/10/2017. The PDI approved the parties' conditional admission of misconduct and suspended Mary Jaclyn Cook, attorney registration number 48292, for nine months, effective August 10, 2017.
Cook, a member of the products liability group at the Denver office of Faegre Baker Daniels, faced in late 2016 the prospect of failing to meet the firm's yearly billable hour expectation. In mid-December 2016, Cook spent two weeks away from the office for her wedding and honeymoon. She returned to the office well short of her hours target. On January 3, 2017, Cook entered or finalized 60 time entries for the December 2016 billing cycle. In some entries she inflated legitimate time that had not yet been submitted; other entries she fabricated entirely. Her fabricated billing reflected nearly $40,000 in time that she had not worked.
A supervisor identified Cook's December billing as unusually high. In an office meeting in late January 2017, firm partners confronted Cook, who claimed that the hours were legitimate. Later that day, she confessed to the partners that she had inflated and fabricated time entries, explaining that she was afraid she would lose her job if she failed to meet the billable hours target. The firm gave Cook the opportunity to resign, which she accepted. With one exception, all client invoices containing the fabricated time were corrected before they were issued to clients.
In this matter, Cook violated Colo. RPC 4.1(a) (in the course of representing a client, a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact or law to a third person) and Colo. RPC 8.4(c) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation). The sole aggravating factor in this case was outweighed by multiple mitigating factors.
No. 16PDJ086. People v. Fling. 7/14/2017. Following a sanctions hearing, the PDJ disbarred Stephanie Anne Fling, attorney registration number 33066, effective August 18,2017.
Fling was hired to represent a client in a post-decree dissolution matter involving transfer of the client's son to a new school. The client gave Fling $2,500 for the representation, and Fling deposited those funds into her COLTAF account Fling took no action on the matter, even though she told the client that she would do so. Later, Fling made withdrawals from her COLTAF account, thereby knowingly converting her client's funds. She compounded this misconduct by disregarding requests for information from disciplinary authorities.
In this matter, Fling violated Colo. RPC 1.15A(a) (a lawyer shall hold client property separate from the lawyer's own property); Colo. RPC 8.1 (b) (a lawyer shall not knowingly fail to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary authority); and Colo. RPC 8.4(c) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation).
No. l7PDJ045. People v. Flores. 6/22/2017. The PDJ approved the parties' conditional admission of misconduct and suspended Raphael A. Flores, attorney registration number 35468, for nine months with die requirement that he petition for reinstatement and bear die burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that he has been rehabilitated, has complied with disciplinary orders and rules, and is fit to practice law. His suspension was effective on July 27, 2017.
In August 2015, Flores agreed to assist a former client to seal her criminal records in four criminal cases. The client paid Flores $2,000, but Flores did not deposit die funds into his trust account. Nor did Flores deposit the client's filing fees into his trust account. Flores also did not maintain sufficient accounting records in the case. Flores's client in fact was ineligible to seal or expunge the criminal records from her four convictions under Colorado statutes. Between October 2015 and August 2016, Flores communicated with his client via text message about the status of her case. In those messages, Flores was dishonest with his client about the actions he took on her behalf to seal her records. Flores drafted a single petition to seal her records but never filed it in any court. The client ultimately terminated the representation and sued him to recover her attorney fees. They settled the lawsuit for $2,000.
On April 6, 2016, Flores was retained to represent a client in a domestic relations case. Flores received a $2,500 retainer two days later, but he did not deposit the retainer in his trust account. On May 12,2016, Flores gave his client a written fee agreement that stated his hourly rate was $250. Flores's client did not sign the agreement because she did not believe it reflected their oral agreement, and the client soon terminated the representation and demanded return of the retainer. Flores gave his client an accounting that reflected 16.40 hours of work, including seven hours for research and one hour for a telephone call. Flores's bill of $3,000 left a $500 balance owed by the client after subtracting the retainer. But Flores had only spent 0.9 hours on the case when he deposited the client's retainer into his operating account on April 11,2016.
In these matters, Flores violated Colo. RPC1.1 (a lawyer shall competently represent a client); Colo. RPC 1.3 (a lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness when representing a client); Colo. RPC 1.4(a)(2) (an attorney shall reasonably consult with a client about the means by which the client's objectives are to be accomplished); Colo. RPC 1.4(a)(3) (a lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of the matter); Colo. RPC 1.4(a)(4) (a lawyer shall prompdy comply with reasonable requests for information); Colo. RPC 1.5(a) (a lawyer shall not charge an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses); Colo. RPC 1.5(b) (a lawyer shall inform a client in writing about the lawyer's fees and expenses within a reasonable time after being retained, if the lawyer has not regularly represented the client); Colo. RPC 1.15A(a) (a lawyer shall hold client property separate from the lawyer's own property); Colo. RPC 1.15D(a)(1)(A) (a lawyer shall maintain an appropriate record-keeping system to track funds or other property held for others); and Colo. RPC 8.4(c) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation).
No. 17PDJ047. People v. Garfield. 6/23/2017. The PDI approved the parties' conditional admission of misconduct and suspended I. Brent Garfield...
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