ODC v. Evan T. L. Hughes

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: February 8, 2023
• Docket: 2923 DD3
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

OFFICE OF DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL, : No. 2923 Disciplinary Docket No. 3 : Petitioner : : No. 40 DB 2022 v. : : : Attorney Registration No. 93214 EVAN T. L. HUGHES, : : Respondent : (Philadelphia)

ORDER

PER CURIAM

AND NOW, this 8th day of February, 2023, upon consideration of the

Recommendation of the Three-Member Panel of the Disciplinary Board, the Joint Petition

in Support of Discipline on Consent is granted, and Evan T.L. Hughes is suspended on

consent from the Bar of this Commonwealth for a period of one year and one day. The

suspension is stayed in its entirety, and he is placed on probation for a period of two

years, subject to the following conditions:

1. Jose Constantino Campos, Esquire, is appointed to monitor Respondent’s

management of his law practice;

2. Attorney Campos shall do the following during Respondent’s probation:

a. Meet with Respondent every other week either virtually or in person;

b. Obtain a status of each of Respondent’s cases and discuss, examine

and review each case with Respondent, which will include, inter alia, the

type of case, confirmation that each file has a fee agreement and a

conflict check was performed, all pending deadlines, all discovery requests, and all client communications to ensure that Respondent

replies timely to clients’ requests;

c. Discuss with Respondent any attorney/client concerns, outstanding

requests from clients or families, payment status for each case, and

scheduling of client meetings/visitations if required;

d. Examine Respondent’s law office organization and procedures;

e. Ensure that Respondent has worked on cases in a reasonably prompt

and diligent manner; and

f. File quarterly written reports with the Board Prothonotary in which

Attorney Campos will include the following:

i. whether he met with Respondent bi-weekly as required and

whether those meetings were in-person or remote;

ii. whether Respondent made his case files available for inspection

and review;

iii. whether Respondent has abided by the Rules of Professional

Conduct;

iv. whether Attorney Campos has any concerns about Respondent’s

law practice; and

v. the written consent and waivers from each client received during

the relevant time period pursuant to Paragraph 4.

3. During the probationary period, Attorney Campos shall have access to all of

Respondent’s files at all times via a G drive or some other electronic method,

except under the restrictions discussed in Paragraph 4.

4. Prior to Attorney Campos having access to Respondent’s client files,

Respondent shall notify the clients and request written consent and waivers from each individual client permitting Attorney Campos to review their individual

files. If a client does not grant consent or does not sign a waiver, Attorney

Campos shall not have access to that client’s file; however, Respondent shall

provide to Attorney Campos a summary of that client’s matter without providing

any identifying and/or confidential information. All written consent and waivers

shall be filed with the Board Prothonotary, as provided in Paragraph 2(f)(v).

5. During the first twelve months of the probationary period, Respondent shall

make monthly payments in the amount of $458.33, for a total of $5,500, to Mr.

Holder and provide proof to Disciplinary Counsel when each payment is

forwarded to Mr. Holder.1

6. Respondent understands and agrees that his conduct during the probationary

period must conform with the Rules of Professional Conduct and the

Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement.

It is further ordered that Respondent shall pay the costs incurred by the Disciplinary

Board in the investigation and prosecution of this matter.

1 The final payment to be $458.37.