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Fred Michael Misner (WSBA No.5742, admitted 1974) of Gig Harbor, resigned in lieu of discipline, effective 1/26/2021. Misner agrees that he is aware of the alleged misconduct in disciplinary counsel’s Statement of Alleged Misconduct and rather than defend against the allegations, wishes to permanently resign from membership in the Association. The Statement of Alleged Misconduct reflects the following alleged violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct: 1.3 (Diligence), 1.7 (Conflict of Interest: Current Clients), 1.8 (Conflict of Interest: Current Clients: Specific Rules), 1.15A (Safeguarding Property), 1.15B (Required Trust Account Records), 3.2 (Expediting Litigation), 8.4(b) (Criminal Act), 8.4(c) (Dishonesty, Fraud, Deceit or Misrepresentation), 8.4(d) (Prejudicial to the Admin of Justice).
Misner’s alleged misconduct, as stated in disciplinary counsel’s Statement of Alleged Misconduct, related to the handling of his relative’s estate, as personal representative. Misner’s alleged misconduct includes: 1) taking more money from relative’s estate than he was entitled to under the terms of the will; 2) serving as personal representative of relative’s estate and by failing to advise that relative to contact a lawyer about any proposed change to the terms of relative’s will where the proposed terms were not fair and reasonable to the estate and/or the other beneficiaries, and were not transmitted in writing, and where relative did not give informed consent in writing; 3) failing to act diligently and failing to expedite litigation; and 4) failing to reconcile the trust account check register balance to the sum of all client ledgers, failing to reconcile the trust account check register to the bank statements, and failing to maintain required trust account records.
Sachia Stonefeld Powell acted as disciplinary counsel. Fred Michael Misner represented himself. The online version of Washington State Bar News contains a link to the following document: Resignation Form of Fred Michael Misner (ELC 9.3(b)).
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