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William R. Allen, (WSBA No. 7167, admitted 1976), of Burlington, was suspended from the practice of law in the State of Washington for a period of two (2) years, effective October 17, 2012, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following approval of a stipulation. This discipline is based on conduct involving failure to act with due diligence, failure to communicate, and failure to safeguard property.
Matter 1: In 2007, Client A hired Mr. Allen to probate and assist with his father’s estate. On or about October 15, 2008, Mr. Allen gave Client A an invoice showing that Client A owed Mr. Allen $1,219. That same day, Client A gave Mr. Allen a $2,000 check. Mr. Allen deposited these funds into his general business account, but at the time, Mr. Allen had not yet earned at least $781 of the funds. On October 22, 2008, Mr. Allen obtained Letters Testamentary to give Client A authority to act as personal representative. Client A accessed a safety deposit box which held annuity policies and letters showing that Client A’s father owned stock in various companies. Client A gave these documents and other documents to Mr. Allen for safekeeping. From October 2008 through May 2011, Mr. Allen failed to appropriately safeguard the original documents and refused to respond to Client A’s multiple requests for their return. Mr. Allen took no further action to complete the probate proceedings. Over the next two years, Client A made multiple attempts to contact Mr. Allen in order to gain information about his case, but Mr. Allen did not respond.
In July 2010, Client A filed a grievance against Mr. Allen with the Association. Mr. Allen did not respond. In September 2010, the Association issued a subpoena duces tecum requiring Mr. Allen to appear for a non-cooperation deposition and to produce his file for Client A’s probate. Mr. Allen provided his files but did not produce Client A’s original documents, stating he could not find them. In January 2011, the Association wrote to Mr. Allen requesting that he inform the Association of the search he had conducted for the documents. Mr. Allen did not respond. The Association issued a second subpoena duces tecum requiring Mr. Allen to appear and produce all original documents received from Client A. In July 2011, Mr. Allen informed the Association that he had found the documents in a tote bag in his house. Mr. Allen produced the documents to the Association at his subsequent deposition.
Matter 2: In 2009, Client B. hired Mr. Allen to probate and assist with his father’s estate. Client B paid Mr. Allen $1,500 in advanced fees. Mr. Allen deposited this money into his general account prior to earning any fees. On July 9, 2009, the Will was admitted to probate and Client B was appointed as personal representative. After July 2009, Client B made repeated attempts to contact Mr. Allen to gain information about the probate but Mr. Allen had no further communication with Client B and did nothing further to advance the probate. In May 2010, Client B hired another lawyer to complete the administration of the estate, who wrote to Mr. Allen and asked him to sign a Substitution of Counsel; Mr. Allen did not respond. The lawyer filed a grievance against Mr. Allen. Mr. Allen did not respond, requiring the Association to set a non-cooperation deposition. The lawyer made a motion to remove Mr. Allen as attorney of the record in the probate proceedings. Mr. Allen filed a Notice of Substitution of Counsel the day before the scheduled hearing but failed to deliver his client file to the new lawyer until August 2010, despite repeated requests.
Mr. Allen’s conduct violated RPC 1.3, requiring a lawyer to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client; RPC 1.4(a)(3), requiring a lawyer to keep the client reasonable informed about the status of the matter; RPC 1.4(a)(4), requiring a lawyer to promptly comply with reasonable requests for information; RPC 1.15A(c)(2), requiring a lawyer to deposit into a trust account legal fees and expenses that have been paid in advance, to be withdrawn by the lawyer only as fees are earned or expenses incurred; RPC 1.15A(c)(3), requiring a lawyer to identify, label and appropriately safeguard any property of clients or third persons other than funds and keep records of such property and identify the property, the client or third person, the date of receipt and the location of safekeeping; and RPC 1.15A(f), requiring a lawyer to promptly pay or deliver to the client or third person the property which the client or third person is entitled to receive.
Francesca D’Angelo represented the Bar Association. Mr. Allen represented himself.
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