In re Rodriguez-Quesada

122 A.3d 913, 2015 D.C. App. LEXIS 365, 2015 WL 4772717
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedAugust 13, 2015
DocketNo. 14-BG-848
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 122 A.3d 913 (In re Rodriguez-Quesada) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Rodriguez-Quesada, 122 A.3d 913, 2015 D.C. App. LEXIS 365, 2015 WL 4772717 (D.C. 2015).

Opinion

PER CURIAM:

The Board on Professional Responsibility concluded that respondent Juan Lorenzo Rodriguez-Quesada violated numerous Rules of Professional Conduct during his representation of several clients in immigration matters. The Board recommends that this court suspend Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada for two years and, as a condition of reinstatement, require Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada to pay restitution to all but one of the affected clients. Mr. Rodriguez-Que-sada challenges the conclusions of the Board as to many of the rule violations and also argues that any suspension should be brief. The Office of Bar Counsel defends the Board’s findings of rule violations and the imposition of a two-year suspension, but argues that this court should condition reinstatement on a showing of fitness and payment of restitution to all of the affected clients. We accept the Board’s findings and conclude that Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada should be suspended for two years, with reinstatement conditioned on a showing of fitness and payment of restitution to all of the affected clients.

I.

The Board’s report and recommendation rests on the following factual conclusions, which the Board largely adopted from the factual findings of the Hearing Committee.

Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada became a member of the Bar of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in 1975 and of the Bar of the District of Columbia in 2005. From 2003 through 2008, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada practiced immigration law. During that period, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada handled from 400 to 500 immigration cases. The disciplinary proceedings in this ease focus on four specific matters, which we discuss in turn.

[916]*916A.

In August 2006, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada agreed to represent Hector Abarca, an El Salvadoran national, in connection with Mr. Abarca’s effort to renew a work permit. Specifically, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada signed a retainer agreement in which he agreed to file an asylum application, an application for relief under the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), and an application for cancellation of removal. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada did not explain the retainer agreement or his case strategy to Mr. Abarca. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada did little work on the case between August 2006 and February 2007. At an initial court hearing in February 2007, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada told an immigration judge that Mr. Abarca was seeking cancellation of removal. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada had not obtained information necessary to make such a request and never did so, despite having been told to do so by the immigration judge.

Proceedings in the matter were continued until January 2008. During this time, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada had little contact with Mr. Abarca except to obtain payment. When Mr. Abarca or his wife asked about the status of the case, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada got angry, was discourteous, and threatened to withdraw if they questioned what he was doing. In October 2007, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada filed an application for temporary protected status, but Mr. Abar-ca was not eligible for temporary protected status. Moreover, the application Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada filed was missing essential information.

In December 2007, the immigration authorities sent Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada two notices that Mr. Abarca should appear for proceedings in January 2008. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada did not send those notices to Mr. Abarca. In January 2008, Mr. Rod-

riguez-Quesada filed a NACARA application and an application for cancellation of removal. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada failed to have Mr. Abarca sign those documents. In one of the applications, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada stated that Mr. Abarca was a habitual drunkard without adequately exploring the accuracy of the statement, which could have precluded Mr. Abarca from obtaining relief.

In January 2008, the relationship between Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada and Mr. Abarca deteriorated, because Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada was insisting on additional payments, demanding that Mr. Abarca provide information of questionable relevance, and threatening to withdraw if Mr. Abarca did not comply. Mr. Abarca asked for return of his case file, but Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada refused unless Mr. Abarca paid the outstanding balance on Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada’s fee. Mr. Rodriguez-Que-sada returned Mr. Abarca’s file only after Mr. Abarca called the police for assistance.

Mr. Abarca subsequently hired a new lawyer, who explained Mr. Abarca’s options, obtained necessary information, and filed an additional petition for relief. Mr. Abarca ultimately obtained relief as result of the NACARA petition. Mr. Abarca subsequently sued Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada in small-claims court in Virginia, seeking return of fees, but did not prevail.

B.

In January 2007, Gia Koerner-Goodrich retained Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada to obtain a certification of United States citizenship for her nephew, who was born and lived in Italy but whose mother and grandfather were United States citizens. In the retainer agreement, Ms. Koerner-Goodrich agreed to pay any necessary filing fees and Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada agreed to prepare and expeditiously file all necessary forms, [917]*917keep Ms. Koerner-Goodrich informed, and respond promptly to her inquiries. Ms. Koerner-Goodrich provided all the necessary information to Mr. Rodriguez-Quesa-da by March 2007, but Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada delayed three months before sending the documents to Italy to be signed and then delayed six more weeks before attempting to file the documents.

The immigration authorities increased the applicable filing fee from $255 to $460, effective July 30, 2007. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada mailed the application on July 29, 2007, but enclosed only $250. The immigration authorities therefore rejected the application and required resubmission with payment of a $460 filing fee. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada did not inform Ms. Koer-ner-Goodrich of the problem until nine months later, when Ms. Koerner-Goodrich asked about the status of the case. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada agreed to refile the application, but asked Ms. Koerner-Good-rich to pay the higher filing fee. Ms. Koerner-Goodrich refused to do so, instead discharging Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada and asking for a return of the retainer, the filing, fee, and her ease file. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada initially did not respond or return the requested items. After receiving a letter from the Better Business Bureau, Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada did return the file and the filing fee. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada never returned the retainer. Ms. Koerner-Goodrich hired a new attorney who obtained a citizenship certification but 1 had to duplicate the work previously done on the case because of the passage of time.

C.

In September 2006, Saad Belhmira, a Moroccan national, retained Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada to help get Mr. Belhmira’s student visa reinstated. In the retainer agreement, Mr. Belhmira agreed to pay $2,000 and Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada agreed to keep Mr. Belhmira informed and to respond promptly to communications. After Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada told Mr. Belhmira that the fee had increased to $4,000 because of an increased scope of work, Mr. Belhmira agreed to pay the larger amount.

Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada subsequently told Mr. Belhmira that Mr. Belhmira had three options to avoid deportation: reinstating his student visa, getting a sponsor, or marrying a United States citizen. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada gave Mr. Belhmira very little guidance about how to find a sponsor or get his student visa reinstated. Mr. Rodriguez-Quesada did not advise Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
122 A.3d 913, 2015 D.C. App. LEXIS 365, 2015 WL 4772717, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-rodriguez-quesada-dc-2015.