In re Majette

757 S.E.2d 114, 295 Ga. 4, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 695, 2014 WL 1266242, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 253
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedMarch 28, 2014
DocketS13Y1860
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 757 S.E.2d 114 (In re Majette) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Majette, 757 S.E.2d 114, 295 Ga. 4, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 695, 2014 WL 1266242, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 253 (Ga. 2014).

Opinions

Per curiam.

This disciplinary matter is before the Court on the Report and Recommendation of the Review Panel, concluding that Denise L. Majette (State Bar No. 746843) committed multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct in manufacturing time sheets and invoices in connection with litigation involving a trust. Although the Review Panel recommends a three-year suspension with conditions for reinstatement, the State Bar continues to seek disbarment, as recommended by the special master, Harold T. Daniel, Jr. Because the record fully supports the conclusion of the special master, we agree that disbarment is the proper sanction.

Following the filing of a formal complaint and a lengthy evidentiary hearing, the special master concluded that Majette violated Rules 1.5 (a) (1), 3.3 (a) (1), 7.1 (a) (1), 8.1 (a), and 8.4 (a) (4) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct found in Bar Rule 4-102 (d). The Review Panel accepted the special master’s findings and conclusions, but also determined that the evidence showed that Majette violated Rule 1.16 (d), as well as additional violations of Rules 1.5 [5]*5(a) (1), 8.1 (a), and 8.4 (a) (4). The maximum sanction for a violation of any of these Rules, except Rules 1.5 (a) (1) and 1.16 (d), is disbarment.

The facts, as found by the special master and Review Panel, and supported by the evidence, show that Majette, who was admitted to the Bar in 1983 and had a distinguished career, was having financial difficulties in 2008 while working part-time as a lawyer and part-time as a real estate agent. As a result, she sought a loan from a lawyer with whom she was acquainted. The lawyer declined to loan Majette money, but offered to associate her in a litigation matter in which the lawyer and an associate represented two clients in litigation involving a trust of which the clients were beneficiaries. Majette accepted the offer; the lead lawyer and Majette agreed that Majette’s fee would be $200 per hour. The lawyer paid Majette $2,000 as a retainer on September 2, 2009, and additional sums totaling $22,500 through March 2010. The lawyer considered these sums to be an advance to be applied against fees earned. Majette did not keep contemporaneous time records, but reconstructed her time sheets and invoices from memory and from notes on her calendar or computer. She prepared a time sheet in November 2009 reflecting 46 hours of work between August and November 20, 2009; she prepared a one-line time sheet in January 2010, reflecting 50 hours of work between December 1, 2009, and January 24, 2010.

Hearings were held in the litigation over three days in March and April 2010; Majette participated in the hearings with the lead lawyer and the other associated lawyer. The trial judge indicated that both sides could seek attorney fees, and Majette prepared a motion for fees for the clients. The motion, which Majette did not provide to the lead lawyer for review before filing, stated that Majette’s billing rate was $500 per hour and that she had spent 260 hours on the case as of April 6, 2010. The motion stated that the billing rate for the lead lawyer was $300 and that he had expended 140.9 hours on the case. The lead lawyer had authorized Majette to use $300 per hour for himself and $260 for Majette in connection with the motion, and he had planned to inform the trial judge that his client had been billed at a lower rate. However, Majette did not give the lead lawyer a draft of the motion before she filed it. The lead lawyer was stunned by the filing and eventually caused it to be withdrawn.

A few days after the last hearing, Majette asked the lead lawyer for payment of $38,000, but did not present a bill or time sheet, and he responded that she would have to seek payment directly from the clients. Majette called one of the clients on April 13, 2010, at 10:30 p.m. and demanded payment of $39,400 in fees by the next day, telling the client that she was in a bind and needed the money right away. The client asked Maj ette if she had submitted a bill to the lead lawyer, [6]*6and Majette misrepresented to the client that she had. The client asked that a copy of the bill be sent to her and agreed to wire transfer $15,000 to Majette the following day, but stated that she would pay the balance after reviewing and approving the bill. Although the client sent the wire transfer as promised, Majette did not send a bill until May 10, 2010, and when she did send the bill, it did not contain details of work done or time attributable to any specific work, but instead simply listed 170 hours as the number of hours allegedly worked. The following day the client requested that Majette provide a proper invoice, which Majette sent on May 11, 2010. That invoice summarized, in two brief paragraphs, the 170 hours from February 2010 through April 6, 2010. The client asked a friend to help her obtain more information from Majette about the invoice. The friend asked Majette for a more detailed bill that also showed credit for the fees already paid, but Majette refused to deal with the client’s intermediary.

At the lead lawyer’s request, Majette prepared a new, detailed billing statement dated May 22, 2010. The statement showed 180 hours of work at $200 an hour, plus $232.60 in costs, most of which was for mileage from Majette’s house to the lead lawyer’s office and to the courthouse. Majette informed the client that the additional 10 hours over the earlier statement represented hours spent in preparing the statement. The statement also showed a credit of $15,000 and amount due of $21,262.60. The client scrutinized the bill and sent the lead lawyer the bill with annotations disputing the bill, noting numerous problems with the bill, including excessive time charged for reading e-mails (forty hours from February 1 to March 24); billing for a telephone conference that did not take place; twelve hours for attending a Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) seminar on appellate practice; travel time to and from the lead lawyer’s office on six days; twelve hours for each hearing date; and billing for a social outing. The client concluded that no further payment was due and stated that Majette should repay some of the funds previously advanced.

On June 30, 2010, Majette sent the statement to the lead lawyer and demanded payment within a week or she would take legal action. The lead lawyer responded that he considered her billing for 180 hours to be excessive because he was lead counsel and had spent more time on the case than anyone and because the clients had raised numerous questions regarding her representations of the work performed and the time charged. In August 2010, the lead lawyer sent a letter to Majette detailing the specific challenges raised by the clients.

[7]*7In response, Majette made a series of filings in the trust litigation in September 2010 seeking payment, including a notice of withdrawal, an attorney’s lien, and an action for breach of contract. In November 2010 Majette filed a motion to foreclose the lien, and in January 2011 Majette filed a motion to intervene, seeking to satisfy the lien. The lead lawyer filed pleadings opposing Majette’s filings on behalf of the clients. The trial court ultimately dismissed the contract action and the motion to foreclose the lien.

The client filed a grievance against Majette with the Bar. Majette denied she had been paid a $24,500 retainer, stating that the first $2,000 payment was for a personal matter and that the remaining $22,500 was for earned fees.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
757 S.E.2d 114, 295 Ga. 4, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 695, 2014 WL 1266242, 2014 Ga. LEXIS 253, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-majette-ga-2014.