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Donald R. Morrison, (WSBA No. 18998, admitted 1989), of Spokane, was suspended for six (6) months, effective June 20, 2012, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following approval of a stipulation. This discipline was based on conduct involving failure to safeguard property, failure to act with reasonable diligence, failure to communicate, charging unreasonable fees, and failure to promptly return unearned fees upon termination of representation.
Between 2010 and 2011, Mr. Morrison:
• Failed to comply with the trust account rules by not depositing advance fees into his trust account, and using the funds before the fees were earned;
• Failed to notify clients that he was unavailable while on vacation. This impacted several clients with time sensitive matters who did not know why they were unable to contact Mr. Morrison;
• Failed to have a written agreement with Client A and did not diligently or promptly pursue Client A’s child support modification petition, which resulted in Client A being obligated to pay additional child support;
• Failed to complete Client B’s marital dissolution and name change. Mr. Morrison received $1,750 in advance fees but did not keep track of his time and did not send Client B any billing statements. Mr. Morrison eventually provided sufficient services to earn the $1,750 but insisted that Client B pay him an additional $1,000 immediately for completing the dissolution and preparing Qualified Domestic Relations Orders (QDROs) or he would withdraw as her counsel. Client B paid Mr. Morrison the $1,000 he demanded, but Mr. Morrison did not prepare and file the QDROs and did not take any steps to change Client B’s name. Mr. Morrison agreed to return the $1,000 as part of the stipulated resolution of this discipline matter;
• Failed to inform Client C of his child support hearing order. The Order stated that Client C was in contempt for not paying child support as ordered and was to be imprisoned for four days, and that the confinement would be suspended provided that Client C paid the child support owed. A follow-up hearing was scheduled for May 3, 2011, but Mr. Morrison never informed Client C; Client C did not know about or attend the hearing and Mr. Morrison failed to attend on behalf of Client C. That same day, the court issued an Order for a bench warrant for Client C’s arrest and ordered additional sanctions of $500. Several weeks later, the family residence was sold and Client C’s support obligations were satisfied from his share of the proceeds of the sale; the bench warrant was quashed before Client C was arrested;
• Failed to provide Client D with copies of her Decree of Dissolution and Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, which in turn delayed Client D’s receipt of funds from her ex-husband’s retirement account. When Client D did eventually receive her interest in the retirement account funds, the amount paid reflected a reduction for an early withdrawal penalty and taxes;
• Failed to communicate with Client E from June 2011 through January 2012. Mr. Morrison did not return Client E’s telephone messages and did not respond to his emails. Mr. Morrison prepared a Petition for Dissolution for Client E; Client E and his spouse both signed the petition but Mr. Morrison never filed it with the court. On November 1, 2011, Mr. Morrison sent an email to Client E stating he would be “sending final documents to you next week” for Client E’s signature; however, this statement was inaccurate due to Mr. Morrison’s failure to file the petition or commence the proceedings. Client E did not receive the “final documents”;
• Failed to charge reasonable fees to Client F. Mr. Morrison agreed to charge Client F at an hourly rate of $200 and to charge paralegal time at an hourly rate of $75. Client F paid Mr. Morrison advance fees of $2,500. On August 8, 2011, Mr. Morrison paid himself $600 from Client F’s $2,500 advance fees and did not send Client F a billing statement or notify Client F that he was paying himself $600. Between August 31, 2011 and September 6, 2011, Mr. Morrison drafted a proposed parenting plan and filed a Petition for Modification; on October 17, 2011, Mr. Morrison paid himself $1,516 from the advanced fees. On December 5, 2011, Client F received the first and only billing statement from Mr. Morrison which reflected that he charged $900 (4.5 hours of Mr. Morrison’s time) for preparing the summons and the petition. Mr. Morrison stipulated that preparing the summons and petition took 1.5 hours;
• Failed to promptly file a petition to modify child support for Client G. On October 3, 2011, Mr. Morrison was hired by Client G to file a petition for modification of child support but Mr. Morrison did not complete the documents and never filed the petition. Client G contacted Mr. Morrison on numerous occasions via email but did not receive a respond. On November 28, 2011, Client G sent an email to Mr. Morrison terminating him because the delay in filing the petition made the matter moot;
Mr. Morrison returned unearned fees to his clients as a condition of the stipulation in this discipline matter.
Mr. Morrison’s conduct violated RPC 1.3, requiring a lawyer to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client; RPC 1.4, requiring a lawyer to communicate with the client; RPC 1.5(a), prohibiting a lawyer from making an agreement for, charging, or collecting an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses; RPC 1.15A(c), requiring a lawyer to hold property of clients and third persons separate from the lawyer’s own property; RPC 1.16(d), requiring a lawyer, upon termination of representation, to take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client’s interests, such as refunding any advance payment of fee or expense that has not been earned or incurred; and RPC 3.2, requiring a lawyer to make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation consistent with the interest of the client.
Jonathan Burke represented the Bar Association. Mr. Morrison represented himself.
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