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Marvin Olsen (WSBA No. 5462, admitted 1969), of Lakewood, has been disbarred by order of the Supreme Court effective May 4, 2000, approving a stipulation. The discipline is based upon his failure to preserve client property, failure to obey court orders and failure to avoid conflicts of interest.
Matter 1: Mr. Olsen drafted a client’s will in the fall of 1988 and the client died in December 1988. The will made two specific bequests and left the residue of the estate to a disabled nephew. The executor named in the will expressed reservations about becoming executor, but agreed with Mr. Olsen’s promise that Mr. Olsen would do most of the work. Mr. Olsen represented the estate and performed most of the executor’s duties. Mr. Olsen did not prepare a written fee agreement or discuss the amount of his fee with the executor. Mr. Olsen filed the initial pleadings in late 1988 or early 1989 and remained attorney of record in the probate until November 30, 1992. The initial inventory listed the estate at $181,155.92. Mr. Olsen later found an additional $70,000 in a safe deposit box, but did not amend the inventory. On January 4, 1989, Mr. Olsen obtained a court order directing the executor to sell a car for no less than $10,500. After January 6, 1989, Mr. Olsen filed no further documents or pleadings in the probate case.
In March 1989, Mr. Olsen sold the car to an acquaintance for $8,000, which was less than market value. Mr. Olsen placed the proceeds from the car sale in an estate account with the proceeds of two of his client’s bank accounts that he liquidated and closed. At the end of 1989, Mr. Olsen closed the estate account and moved the entire $66,561 balance to his IOLTA account. In April 1990, Mr. Olsen received a $82,557 check from liquidating all but one of the estate’s stock investments. Mr. Olsen held this check in his client file until June 27, 1990, when he deposited it into the IOLTA account. Mr. Olsen liquidated two additional bank accounts in November 1990 and May 1991. He held the cashier’s checks in his client file until November 30, 1992. Mr. Olsen did not liquidate the remaining bank accounts or stock investments, nor did he place the estate funds in an interest-bearing account after closing the initial estate account in 1989.
Mr. Olsen distributed $6,000 to the executor in 1989 and paid an additional $5,000 in executor’s fees in 1992. He also paid a total of $145,000 to the disabled nephew’s guardian in 1989 and 1990. He paid himself $14,000 in fees. He kept no billing or time records on this case and estimated his time to calculate his fee. Mr. Olsen gave away personal property of the estate to Goodwill and to his family and friends. Mr. Olsen kept for himself a collection of jazz record albums, a short-wave radio and a family Bible. Mr. Olsen did not keep complete records of receipts and disbursements of estate property.
On April 30, 1990, Mr. Olsen wrote a check on his IOLTA account and entered it as a debit to the estate, but has never explained or accounted for this expense. Mr. Olsen did not file the required estate tax returns for 1990, 1991, 1992 or 1993. Mr. Olsen also did not file an individual tax return for the testator for 1989. The nephew’s guardian wrote letters and called Mr. Olsen regarding the status of the estate from April 1990 through mid-1992. In response, Mr. Olsen sent one of the amounts listed above, but did not otherwise respond.
On November 30, 1992, at the guardian’s request, the court removed Mr. Olsen as attorney for the estate. The estate lost more than $30,000 on interest penalties and fees related to Mr. Olsen’s mishandling of property, and in hiring a new lawyer and executor.
Matter 2: In March 1993, the Bar Association auditor determined that Mr. Olsen’s trust account contained $14,000 to $20,000 less than it needed to meet the known client balances. Mr. Olsen and his law partner at the time replaced approximately $8,000 with their own funds. In early 1994, following a full audit, the auditor recommended that Mr. Olsen and his partner deposit $6,989.96 of their own funds into the trust account to cure existing shortages. Mr. Olsen did not deposit this amount. The auditor conducted a subsequent audit in 1997, finding that the amounts had not been replaced and that four areas in non-compliance with trust account rules noted in the original audit had not been corrected. Mr. Olsen did not have the funds available to correct the deficiency. On May 31, 1997, Mr. Olsen’s trust account was short by $32,234.64.
During the time periods covered in the audits, Mr. Olsen had minors’ funds in his trust account, in violation of court orders requiring the funds to be in blocked accounts. He also failed to disburse the funds to the minors’ creditors, as required by court order. Mr. Olsen did not maintain sufficient records to document payments he made to himself from his trust account.
Matter 3: In 1990, Mr. Olsen represented a client in a driving while under the influence of alcohol (DUI) charge in King County District Court. The client, who spoke English as a second language, paid Mr. Olsen a flat fee of $750. Mr. Olsen had the client sign a waiver of speedy trial at the first appearance. Neither Mr. Olsen nor the client appeared for the October 2, 1990 pretrial conference, and the court issued a bench warrant for the client’s arrest. In late October, the client called Mr. Olsen, asking about the status of his case. Mr. Olsen told the client that he did not need to do anything and to wait to hear from Mr. Olsen.
On November 29, 1990, Mr. Olsen wrote a letter to the court indicating that he failed to appear due to a "comedy of errors" in his office. He enclosed his notice of appearance. He asked to have the pretrial conference reinstated. The court clerk responded that the client would have to either surrender to the jail or go to the front counter and then directly to the courtroom. Mr. Olsen received the instructions from the court clerk and took no further action on the case. Mr. Olsen did not tell the client about his conversation with the clerk or the client’s need to go to the court or surrender to the jail. In late December, the client called again. Mr. Olsen repeated his statement that the client did not need to do anything regarding his case. In January 1993, the client was involved in an automobile accident. The investigating officers arrested the client on the 1990 DUI charge and he spent the night in jail. Mr. Olsen refunded $400 of the client’s fee for "partial compensation for the time that you spent in jail." Mr. Olsen also assisted the client in entering into a deferred prosecution of his case.
Matter 4: In January 1996, a husband retained Mr. Olsen for an uncontested dissolution. The wife had moved to England with their children. The husband’s home of record was in Washington, but at the time, he was assigned to the U.S.S. Independence, whose home port was in Japan. The client asked that Mr. Olsen complete the work as soon as possible. Mr. Olsen asked if the client had plans to remarry. Prior to answering the question, the client asked Mr. Olsen if he was in fact his lawyer. When Mr. Olsen answered that he was the client’s lawyer, the client stated that he planned to remarry on July 14, 1997. The client signed the initial pleadings and returned them to Mr. Olsen on February 7, 1997.
Between February 7, 1997 and April 5, 1997, the client called to inquire about the status of his case. Mr. Olsen and his staff told the client that his petition had been filed on February 20, 1997. In late March 1997, the client learned that his wife had not been served and informed Mr. Olsen. Mr. Olsen then filed the dissolution pleadings on April 5, 1997. Mr. Olsen mailed the pleadings to the client’s wife in England and never filed proof that she had been properly served. Between April and July 1997, the client asked for copies of the proposed final pleadings to determine the status of his case. Mr. Olsen would not answer the client’s questions or provide him copies of the documents.
On or about July 3, 1997, another lawyer called Mr. Olsen and told him that he would appear to represent the wife. During this conversation, Mr. Olsen told opposing counsel that the husband planned to remarry shortly. On this same day, after the phone call from opposing counsel, Mr. Olsen obtained an ex parte order of default and decree of dissolution. The date the court signed the decree was less that the required 90 days from the date of filing. On July 9, 1997, opposing counsel filed his notice of appearance, not aware of the ex parte orders. On July 12, the client obtained certified copies of his dissolution decree to be certain that he could remarry. On July 14, 1997, the client remarried. On August 30, 1997, opposing counsel moved to set aside the decree on the grounds that the wife had not been properly served, the 90 days had not elapsed, and an order of default should not have been entered without prior notice to opposing counsel.
Mr. Olsen did not notify his client about the motion to set aside his decree. On October 27, 1997, the court granted the motion, but delayed entry of an order to allow the parties time to resolve the disputes. Mr. Olsen never told his client about the order or his need to negotiate an agreement with his first wife. The client learned of the order from the Bar Association in March 1997. The client retained new counsel. In July 1997, the court set aside the dissolution decree.
Matter 5: On May 17, 1995, Mr. Olsen prepared a will for a client, naming himself as the personal representative and trustee for the trust established in the will. The client died on June 24, 1995. The estate consisted of about $225,000 in assets. The will provided that the estate be held in trust with monthly income paid to the client’s wife during her life. The remainder of the estate was to be distributed equally to a nephew and a cousin.
On July 23, 1995, Mr. Olsen obtained an order admitting the will to probate and appointing himself as personal representative, to serve without bond. He also filed a notice to creditors and other pleadings. Mr. Olsen did not file any other pleadings in the case until June 3, 1997. Mr. Olsen did not file the required inventory and appraisement. In 1995 and 1996, the beneficiaries each filed separate requests for special notice of actions taken in the probate. Mr. Olsen filed the inventory in June 1997 after a motion to compel was filed. The wife, through her lawyer, requested that Mr. Olsen provide an accounting of the trust. Mr. Olsen did not respond to this request.
In spring of 1997, the beneficiaries negotiated an agreement to terminate the trust and disburse one-third of the assets to each beneficiary. The agreement was not to be effective until Mr. Olsen filed an inventory and provided an accounting of expenditures. Mr. Olsen filed an inventory on June 3, 1997, one day prior to a hearing requesting that the court order the inventory and accounting. He did not provide an accounting.
On June 12, 1997, the wife died. On September 29, 1997, the court ordered Mr. Olsen to provide an accounting by October 15, 1997. Mr. Olsen did not comply with this court order. On December 8, 1997, Mr. Olsen made a $57,123.38 disbursement to the two beneficiaries. On December 8, 1998, the court ordered Mr. Olsen to provide an accounting and partial distributions to the two beneficiaries by January 5, 1999. Mr. Olsen did not comply with this court order.
At the January 20, 1999 hearing, the court ordered that the final distribution be made by February 19, 1999 and assessed $4,971 in attorney’s fees against Mr. Olsen. On January 29, 1999, Mr. Olsen made a partial distribution of $30,000. He did not provide an accounting or make the final distribution as required by the court order. The court ordered Mr. Olsen to be removed as personal representative if he had not made the final distribution by April 26, 1999 and provided a full accounting by that time. On April 26, 1999, Mr. Olsen made another partial distribution of $20,000. He did not provide an accounting or make the final distribution.
On May 3, 1999, the court removed Mr. Olsen as personal representative and trustee and directed that he turn over all funds and estate property to one of the beneficiaries’ lawyers by May 5, 1999. Mr. Olsen did not comply with this court order. On July 28, 1999, the court held Mr. Olsen in contempt for failing to turn over estate funds and records, but suspended the finding on the condition that Mr. Olsen cooperate in an audit of his trust account and turn over all the funds by the next day. The Bar Association informed Mr. Olsen that it would seek his immediate interim suspension if he failed to turn over the funds. As of the date of the stipulation, February 10, 2000, Mr. Olsen had not turned over the funds or provided a complete accounting.
Matter 6: On December 31, 1997, Mr. Olsen agreed to represent a husband in a dissolution action. During the initial conference, Mr. Olsen told the client it would take approximately 90 days after signing the petition to get his divorce. The client signed the petition and other required pleadings on January 8, 1998. Mr. Olsen never filed the petition or served it on the wife. In April 1998, the client called several times regarding the status of his divorce. Both Mr. Olsen and his secretary told the client that the petition had been filed and they were waiting for the 90 days to expire. When the client called in July to find out why the divorce was taking so long, either Mr. Olsen or his secretary told the client that the petition had not been filed. The client terminated Mr. Olsen’s services on July 19, 1998. At that time, the original signed petition and pleadings were loose in the front of the file. Mr. Olsen did not respond to the Bar Association’s requests for information on this matter.
Matter 7: In September 1998, an 81-year-old client retained Mr. Olsen to help him to correct his real property records to reflect his sole ownership of his home. His wife had died recently, and under the terms of their community property agreement, the client had become the sole owner of the home. During the first conference, the client gave Mr. Olsen the original community property agreement. Mr. Olsen told the client that an affidavit would be necessary to clear the title and that he would take care of that. Also, Mr. Olsen told the client that he would record the client’s community property agreement. The client signed the affidavit on September 23, 1998. Mr. Olsen took no further action on this case. He did not record the affidavit or the community property agreement.
In the fall of 1998, the client gave power of attorney to his case manager. In October 1998, the case manager attempted to contact Mr. Olsen to obtain the client’s community property agreement. Although Mr. Olsen promised to mail the community property agreement to the case manager, she never received it.
In December 1998, the client’s house was being sold. Again, the case manager attempted to reach Mr. Olsen. After many phone calls, a courier picked up the community property agreement from Mr. Olsen’s office the day prior to closing. Mr. Olsen’s failure to respond generated additional closing expenses for his client. Mr. Olsen also failed to respond to the Bar Association’s requests for information on this matter.
Mr. Olsen’s conduct violated RPC 1.1, requiring lawyers to provide competent representation; RPC 1.3 and 3.2, requiring lawyers to diligently represent their clients and to expedite litigation; RPC 1.14, requiring lawyers to account for client property in their possession and to deliver property to the client upon request; RPC 8.4(d), prohibiting conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice; RPC 1.5, requiring lawyers’ fees to be reasonable and that the basis of the fee or rate be communicated to the client; RPC 8.4(c), prohibiting conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; RPC 3.4(c), prohibiting lawyers from knowingly disobeying a court order; RPC 1.8(a), prohibiting a lawyer from knowingly taking an ownership or possessory interest adverse to a client; RPC 1.8(j), prohibiting a lawyer from taking a proprietary interest in the cause of action of the subject matter of litigation; RPC 8.4(b), prohibiting committing a criminal act (theft of estate property) that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; RPC 5.1 and 5.3, requiring lawyers supervising lawyers and nonlawyer assistants to make reasonable efforts to be certain the RPCs are followed; RPC 3.3(f), requiring lawyers in ex parte proceedings to inform the tribunal of all relevant facts known to the lawyer that should be disclosed to permit the tribunal to make an informed decision, whether or not the facts are adverse; and RLD 2.8, requiring lawyers to respond to Bar Association requests for information.
Joy McLean represented the Bar Association. Mr. Olsen represented himself.
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