Board of Professional Responsibility v. Reguli

489 S.W.3d 408, 2015 Tenn. LEXIS 1058
CourtTennessee Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 1, 2015
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 489 S.W.3d 408 (Board of Professional Responsibility v. Reguli) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Tennessee Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Professional Responsibility v. Reguli, 489 S.W.3d 408, 2015 Tenn. LEXIS 1058 (Tenn. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION

SHARON G. LEE, C.J.,

delivered the opinion of the Court, in which CORNELIA A. CLARK and HOLLY KIRBY, JJ., and FRANK G. CLEMENT, JR., SP.J., joined. JEFFREY S. BIVINS, J., not participating.

A Board of Professional Responsibility hearing panel determined that an attorney violated multiple rules of professional conduct and imposed a suspension to be served on probation subject to certain conditions. The trial court affirmed the hearing panel’s findings but modified the sanction by requiring the attorney to pay restitution, shortening the term of the suspension and probation, and eliminating and modifying other conditions of probation. Upon careful consideration, we affirm the trial court’s order of restitution, but otherwise reinstate the decision of the hearing panel.

I.

This is an attorney discipline case involving Connie Reguli, who maintains a law office in Brentwood, Tennessee. On July 16, 2012, the Board of Professional Responsibility (“the Board”) filed a petition for discipline against Ms. Reguli based on-three complaints of misconduct.1 The [413]*413complaints arose out of Ms. Reguli’s representation of Robert Castleman, representations on Ms. Reguli’s website regarding her professional certification, and Ms. Re-guli’s representation of Sayuri Pope. The Board alleged that Ms. Reguli’s conduct violated Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 8, Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) 1.4(a) and (b), Communication;' 1.5(a) and (f), Fees; 1.16(d), Declining or Terminating Representation; 7.4(b), Communication of Fields of Practice and Specialization; 8.1(b), Bar Admission and Disciplinary-Matters; and 8.4(a), (c), and (d), Misconduct.

Ms. Reguli answered the petition and denied any misconduct. In her answer and in pretrial motions, she asserted, among other things, that the United States and Tennessee Constitutions require that the Board’s allegations be proven by clear and convincing evidence, that the Board be required to produce documentation confirming that the Board’s Chair selected panel committee members on a rotating basis, that the hearing panel members be recused, and that Disciplinary Counsel Krisann Hodges be disqualified. Ms. Re-guli filed numerous other motions and objections, including, but not limited to, an objection to holding the hearing-in a private facility, a counterclaim against the Board alleging the Petition for Discipline was unsupported by fact and law and had been brought to harass Ms. Reguli, a motion to strike exhibits, a motion to bifurcate the Petition for Discipline’s allegations and assign them to separate panels, an Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation request, a motion for a declaratory ruling as to whether Panel members are judges, a motion to stay the disciplinary proceeding pending disposition of a declaratory judgment action filed by- Ms. Reguli against the Board in Davidson County Chancery Court, and a motion to dismiss the alleged "RPC 1.5(f) violation.

A hearing panel (“the Panel”) was appointed pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9.2 On July 16, 2013, the Panel ruled on a number of Ms. Reguli’s pre-hearing motions and objections. The Panel denied ■ Ms. Reguli’s request that the Panel employ a clear and convincing evidence standard and also denied her motion to disqualify Ms. Hodges. The Panel also dismissed Ms. Reguli’s counterclaim and took under advisement her requests for disclosures regarding the manner in which Panel members are appointed. ■ Ms. Reguli continued to file a number of other motions and objections until the hearing.

II.

The Panel conducted a hearing on November 13 and 14, 2013. Ms. Reguli, Robert Castleman, .Kathryn Wright, and David Johnson testified before the Panel.

On July 21, 2011, Ms. Reguli and Mr. Castleman entered into a written fee agreement for Ms. Reguli to represent Mr. Castleman in his divorce proceeding. Mr. Castleman paid Ms. Reguli $10,000 and signed the fee agreement. The agreement provided that the “$10,000 will be held in escrow and the hourly fees will be charged against this retainer”; that “[o]nce the full amount of the retainer has been used for legal services, an additional retainer may be required, depending on the status of the case”; and that “[i]f services are completed or ended prior to the expiration of the funds held in escrow, the return of the funds will be at the discretion of the firm [414]*414in accordance with Formal Ethics Opinion 92-F-128.”3

Ms. Reguli testified that she understood that Formal Ethics Opinion 92-F-128 provided that nonrefundable retainers are acceptable if they are in writing. Ms. Reguli believed the language “at the discretion of the firm” in the fee agreement made the retainer nonrefundable. She testified that she reviewed the fee agreement with Mr. Castleman, but did not provide'him-with a copy of the ethics opinion. Mr. Castleman testified that he did not know the contents of-Formal Ethics Opinion 92-F-128 when he signed the agreement. Mr. Castleman stated that he only read two paragraphs of the agreement and that he did not feel the need to ask questions about the contract because he trusted Ms. Reguli as an attorney. Ms. Reguli testified that she assumed she placed the $10,000 in her escrow account and that she most likely withdrew amounts from the retainer as she worked on Mr. Castleman’s case.

About three or four weeks after signing the agreement, Mr. Castleman discharged Ms. Reguli as his lawyer. Mr. Castleman testified he tried to contact Ms. Reguli to get an accounting of the time Ms. Reguli spent on his case and to recoup the unearned portion of the fee. He stated that he called Ms. Reguli’s office several times and left messages that were not returned and also called Ms. Reguli’s cell phone without a return call. On September 20, 2011, Mr. Castleman sent Ms. Reguli a letter requesting an itemized billing and a refund of the balance of the retainer. According to Mr. Castleman, he did not receive- an accounting or a refund from Ms. Reguli. Mr. Castleman stated that his address at the time he sent the September 2011 letter was a different address than when he signed the fee agreement.

Ms. Reguli testified that in September 2011, she provided Mr. Castleman with ah accounting of' the time she spent on his case. Ms.‘'Reguli stated that she mailed Mr. Castleman the requested information, but by that time, 'Mr.- Castleman had changed his address. At the hearing, Ms. Reguli produced an accounting that listed billed -hours -and corresponding fees of $2,082.80' and expenses of $116.75, for a total of $2,199.25 charged against the $10,000 retainer; Ms. Reguli did not refund the balance of the retainer to Mr. Castleman.

Kathryn-Wright, an administrative-assistant at Ms. Reguli’s law firm, testified that she answers phones in Ms. Reguli’s office. Ms. Wright stated that she transfers calls to attorneys if they are available, and if nofi she takes a message. Ms. Wright records messages in a computerized system. She testified that someone is always available to answer the office phone during working hours, even if she is temporarily unavailable. Ms. Wright does not answer Ms. Reguli’s cell phone calls. Ms. Wright acknowledged receiving Mr. Cas-tleman’s September 20, 2011 letter. Ms. Wright stated that she .scans letters and places them in attorneys’ inboxes upon receipt, but she did not recall what she did with Mr. Castleman’s letter. Ms. Reguli testified that she reviewed her office’s computerized message system and did not see any notations of messages' left for her by Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
489 S.W.3d 408, 2015 Tenn. LEXIS 1058, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-professional-responsibility-v-reguli-tenn-2015.