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Richard L. Pope, Jr., (WSBA No. 21118, admitted 1991), of Bellevue, was ordered to receive a reprimand following approval of a stipulation by the Chief Hearing Officer on May 30, 2012. This discipline is based on conduct involving failure to communicate with a client as to the client’s continued desire to file a lawsuit, and failure to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter.
In 2003, Mr. Pope undertook to file a lawsuit against his client’s former employer for violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Thereafter, Mr. Pope had a conversation in which his client indicated he might be looking for another lawyer to pursue the action. Mr. Pope did not hear back from his client about whether he had found another lawyer. As the statute of limitations approached, Mr. Pope did not contact his client to ascertain whether his client still wanted Mr. Pope to file the lawsuit on his behalf. Instead, Mr. Pope checked the court dockets to see if some other lawyer had filed the lawsuit. When Mr. Pope did not find that any other lawyer had filed the lawsuit, he advanced the filing fee and filed the lawsuit in Federal Court on October 4, 2004.
During 2005, on two occasions, the Federal Court issued orders to show cause why the lawsuit should not be dismissed because of Mr. Pope’s failure to comply with the Court’s orders as to filing a joint status report. On another occasion in 2005, the Federal Court issued an order to show cause why the lawsuit should not be dismissed for failure to serve a summons within 120 days of filing the complaint. In September 2005, the Court ordered Mr. Pope to withdraw from the representation. When Mr. Pope failed to withdraw, the Court issued an order in January 2006 removing Mr. Pope as counsel of record. Although Mr. Pope responded to the Court’s orders to show cause and prevented the lawsuit from being dismissed, Mr. Pope did not communicate with his client at all during 2005, and did not advise his client of any of the orders to show cause or the order directing Mr. Pope to withdraw.
Mr. Pope’s conduct violated RPC 1.2(a), requiring a lawyer to abide by a client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation and, as required by Rules, to consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued; and RPC 1.4, requiring a lawyer to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of the matter.
Randy Beitel represented the Bar Association. Stephen C. Smith represented Mr. Pope. Joseph Nappi, Jr., is the Chief Hearing Officer.
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