Discipline Notice - Mariano Morales

License Number: 19213
Member Name: Mariano Morales
Discipline Detail
Action: Censure
Effective Date: 8/19/1997
RPC: 1.6 - Confidentiality
Discipline Notice:
Description: Yakima lawyer Mariano Morales, Jr. (WSBA No. 19213, admitted 1989) has been ordered censured, pursuant to a stipulation for discipline, approved by the Disciplinary Board on August 19, 1997. The discipline is based upon his disclosure of confidential information, in violation of RPC 1.6. A potential client contacted Morales on the telephone regarding possible representation in an employment dispute. He told the potential client that he did not handle employment matters and referred her to another lawyer. He then telephoned the potential client’s supervisor, whom he knew, in an effort to warn him that the potential client was contemplating litigation. Unbeknownst to Morales, he did not speak to the supervisor but to a different employee, who was a friend of the potential client. He told this individual that the potential client had contacted him about filing a lawsuit against the employer, and that the employer should get its files in order in the event that the potential client hired another lawyer. Respondent was represented by Kurt M. Bulmer. The Bar Association was represented by disciplinary counsel Joanne S. Abelson.


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