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Seattle lawyer Margaret Ennis-Keener (WSBA No. 17518, admitted 1987), has been ordered disbarred effective November 22,1996. The disbarment, which was pursuant to a stipulation, was based on Ennis-Keener's misappropriation of client funds.
Ennis-Keener was a shareholder in a law firm that represented plaintiffs in personal injury claims. In August of 1993, she settled a client's claim. The firm withheld $4,189 due to a pending subrogation interest by an insurance company for personal injury protection benefits. After the insurance company did not respond to repeated inquiries, it was determined to release the funds to the client. In the spring of 1994, Ennis-Keener informed the firm that she was terminating her association with the firm.
On her last day at the firm, Ennis-Keener requested and received a check payable to the client for $4,189 drawn on the firm’s trust account. The check was not signed. Ennis-Keener inadvertently held the check until she found it in mid July 1994. She then signed it in the name of the law firm administrator without authorization to do so, and forged the client's endorsement, making the check payable to herself. She then deposited the check in her personal bank account.
The law firm's comptroller contacted Ennis-Keener after the client told the firm she had not received the funds withheld for the subrogation interest. Ennis-Keener told the comptroller that the client had paid the funds to her for legal work done separate from the firm’s representation. Ennis-Keener then called the client and told her that there appeared to be fraudulent behavior by a former bookkeeper of the firm, that Ennis-Keener was handling the situation, and that a meeting was to be held among the bookkeeper, the bookkeeper's attorney, the firm and Ennis-Keener. The client contacted the firm, and the firm's managing partner called Ennis-Keener. Ennis-Keener admitted that she had fraudulently converted the check and stated that she would repay the client that day. Later that day, she brought the client a cashier's check for $5,000, representing the misappropriated funds, plus interest and additional compensation for inconveniences.
Ennis-Keener stipulated that the facts summarized above established by a clear preponderance of the evidence that she violated Rule 1.1 (a) (acts involving moral turpitude and dishonesty) and 1.1 (p) (conduct demonstrating unfitness to practice law) of the Rules for Lawyer Discipline, and Rules 8el(c) (act involving dishonesty, fraud. deceit or misrepresentation), 1.14(a) (client funds must be maintained in trust account), 1.14(b)(3) (lawyer must render appropriate accounts regarding client funds), and 1.14(b)(4) (requiring prompt payment to client of funds client is entitled to receive) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Ennis-Keener was represented by Leland G. Ripley. The Association was represented by Disciplinary Counsel Mark Lough.
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