Columbus Bar Ass'n v. Winkfield

107 Ohio St. 3d 360
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 11, 2006
DocketNo. 2005-1115
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 107 Ohio St. 3d 360 (Columbus Bar Ass'n v. Winkfield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Columbus Bar Ass'n v. Winkfield, 107 Ohio St. 3d 360 (Ohio 2006).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Respondent, Lawrence Edward Winkfield of Westerville, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0034254, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1975.

{¶ 2} Respondent was first disciplined for professional misconduct in 1996 when we suspended him from the practice of law for one year but conditionally stayed the suspension. See Columbus Bar Assn. v. Winkfield (1996), 75 Ohio St.3d 527, 664 N.E.2d 902. On April 11, 2001, we found additional misconduct and ordered another suspension of respondent’s license, this time for two years with a stay of the last year on the condition of restitution. See Columbus Bar Assn. v. Winkfield (2001), 91 Ohio St.3d 364, 745 N.E.2d 411. To implement his suspension, we directed respondent to “deliver to all clients being represented in pending matters all papers or other property pertaining to the client * * *, calling attention to any urgency for obtaining such papers or property.” Respondent did not make restitution and has not been reinstated.

{¶ 3} On January 15, 2003, relator, Columbus Bar Association, filed a ten-count amended complaint charging respondent with additional misconduct, including his continued practice of law in violation of our April 11, 2001 order. A panel of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline heard the cause and made findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a recommendation, all of which the board adopted.

Misconduct

{¶ 4} Respondent stipulated to the facts and misconduct charged in Counts I through VIII and X of the complaint, and relator withdrew Count IX.

Count I

{¶ 5} In February 2001, respondent agreed to represent Paul Hart in a divorce case. Respondent did not tell Hart of his suspension so that Hart could retain new counsel for an upcoming hearing, scheduled for May 1, 2001. Hart’s wife discovered the suspension and told Hart, and Hart confronted respondent about his professional status. Respondent replied that despite the suspension of his license to practice, he could continue to represent Hart through a “ghost attorney.”

{¶ 6} Hart retained other counsel on April 13, 2001, and his new counsel immediately requested Hart’s case file from respondent. Despite repeated [362]*362requests, respondent did not mail the Hart file to his successor counsel until May 3, 2001, two days after the scheduled hearing. Later, in a May 14, 2001 letter to relator, respondent misrepresented his actions in delivering Hart’s file.

{¶ 7} The board found that respondent had thereby violated our order suspending his license and also violated DR 1-102(A)(4) (prohibiting conduct involving fraud, deceit, dishonesty, or misrepresentation), 1-102(A)(5) (prohibiting conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice), 1-102(A)(6) (prohibiting conduct adversely reflecting on fitness to practice law), 7-101(A)(3) (prohibiting a lawyer from causing a client damage or prejudice), and 9-102(B)(4) (requiring a lawyer to promptly deliver funds a client is entitled to receive).

Count II

{¶ 8} On or about May 5, 2001, while his law license was still suspended, respondent accepted a fee from Cynthia Ann Randle to prepare a deed to transfer real property. Respondent later prepared the deed and oversaw execution of the document. He also notarized signatures on the deed despite the fact that his authority as a notary public was contingent on his licensed authority to practice law.

{¶ 9} On or about June 21, 2001, respondent offered to complete for Randle the administration of her deceased father’s estate. Respondent advised his client that another attorney would help him with the case. He did not tell Randle that he had been suspended from the practice of law, referring to himself instead as a “case manager/paralegal” on business cards and stationery.

{¶ 10} Respondent met with Randle after directing her to collect papers concerning the estate. Respondent advised that he would seek a continuance of an upcoming July 12, 2001 hearing on a contempt citation against Randle. He also said that Randle’s brother, who had also been cited, need not attend. The contempt hearing went forward as scheduled, but respondent never told the brother to appear, and the brother did not. When Randle told the probate court why her brother had not appeared, the court continued the case and notified relator of respondent’s conduct.

{¶ 11} The board found that respondent had thereby violated our order suspending his license and also violated DR 1-102(A)(4), 1-102(A)(5), 1-102(A)(6), and 3-101(B) (prohibiting practicing law in a jurisdiction in violation of the rules of that jurisdiction).

Count III

{¶ 12} Respondent also represented Dreama Slappy, a fiduciary in a probate court estate. Before his April 11, 2001 suspension, respondent failed to have his client file an estate-status letter and account on the date due. After the [363]*363suspension, respondent failed to tell his client that she needed to obtain new legal counsel. He instead assured her that he was acting as her “case manager” and taking care of the estate.

{¶ 13} Slappy was cited to appear in the probate court on July 26, 2001, regarding her failure to file estate papers. Slappy consulted respondent about the citation, and respondent prepared a “Status Letter” for her to sign and take to the court hearing. Slappy presented the letter unsigned to the magistrate at the hearing.

{¶ 14} The board found that respondent had thereby violated our order suspending his license and also violated DR 1~102(A)(4), 1-102(A)(5), 1-102(A)(6), 3-101(B), and 7-101(A)(3).

Count IV

{¶ 15} Just prior to his April 11, 2001 suspension and despite his knowledge of the board’s recommendation to indefinitely suspend him, respondent accepted Janine Lovelace’s personal-injury case. He did not tell Lovelace of the pending disciplinary proceedings and described himself at a meeting in May 2001 as Lovelace’s attorney. In July 2001, respondent faxed to Lovelace a contingent-fee agreement for her signature.

{¶ 16} On or about October 16, 2001, Lovelace learned from respondent’s secretary that he had been suspended from practicing law, that he had arranged for another lawyer named Leo Ross to represent her, and that Ross was seeking a settlement of her claim. In the next day or so, respondent explained to Lovelace that he had forgotten to tell her about his suspension. Lovelace later decided to have Ross represent her, and he eventually secured a settlement.

{¶ 17} The board found that respondent had thereby violated our order suspending his license and also violated DR 1-102(A)(4), 1-102(A)(5), 1-102(A)(6), and 3-101(B).

Count V

{¶ 18} Sanita MacLean employed attorney Clifford Farrell to represent her in a personal-injury matter arising out of an accident that occurred on May 31, 2001. Upon investigating the case, Farrell discovered that respondent had met with MacLean after her accident and had given her a fee agreement and other documents concerning his representation of her in regard to the accident. On some documents, respondent had signed the name of another lawyer whom MacLean had never met.

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Related

Columbus Bar Assn. v. Winkfield (Slip Opinion)
2019 Ohio 4532 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2019)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Meyer
32 N.E.3d 434 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2015)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Freeman
2010 Ohio 3824 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Andrews
2010 Ohio 931 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2010)
Columbus Bar Assn. v. Winkfield
2009 Ohio 5682 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2009)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Parker
876 N.E.2d 556 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2007)

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Bluebook (online)
107 Ohio St. 3d 360, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/columbus-bar-assn-v-winkfield-ohio-2006.