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Paul King (WSBA No7370, admitted 1977), of Seattle, was suspended for two years, effective April 25, 2002, by order of the Supreme Court approving a stipulation. The discipline is based on his failure to follow a client’s instructions, failure to charge a reasonable fee, failure to properly administer his client trust account and failure to properly file and pay state and federal taxes from 1996 through 2000.
Matter 1: In May 1998, Mr. King agreed to represent two clients in a wage claim against their former employer. On October 1, 1999, opposing counsel made a settlement offer of $14,000. The clients instructed Mr. King to accept the settlement offer. On that same day, Mr. King wrote a letter to opposing counsel stating that he would not accept less than $17,500. On October 7, 1999, after speaking with the clients, a member of Mr. King’s staff told opposing counsel that the clients would accept the settlement offer. On October 8, 1999, opposing counsel wrote a confirming letter and enclosed a copy of the settlement agreement. The clients visited Mr. King’s office that day, taking a copy of the settlement agreement and again instructing the office to accept the settlement. On October 13, 1999, Mr. King sent opposing counsel a letter stating that the clients were proceeding to trial. On October 15, 1999, opposing counsel received the signed settlement agreement directly from the clients. When the settlement check arrived, Mr. King demanded 50% of the gross recovery, instead of the 40% stated in the fee agreement. Mr. King told the clients that the check would remain in his trust account until the “fee dispute” was resolved. Worried they would never receive their money, the clients agreed to pay $6,918 in attorney’s fees. The clients received $6,293.72.
Mr. King’s conduct in this matter violated RPCs 1.2, requiring lawyers to abide by their clients’ decisions whether to accept an offer of settlement; 1.4, requiring lawyers to keep clients informed of the status of their matters; 8.4(c), prohibiting lawyers from engaging in conduct involving dishonestly, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; and 1.5, requiring lawyers fees to be reasonable.
Matter 2: From January 1999 through May 2000, Mr. King used a credit union share account for his office checking account. He used sub accounts of this share checking account for his client trust accounts. During this time, Mr. King deposited client funds into his office checking account and paid clients from this account. He did not maintain adequate records of client funds. Mr. King’s non-lawyer assistants were responsible for most trust account transactions. Mr. King did not provide proper training or supervision.
Matter 3: Mr. King employed a legal assistant, Mr. S. In April 1999, Mr. S. accepted a $1000 cash payment from a client. He placed this payment in the safe in Mr. King’s Bremerton office, without any identification or written records. When Mr. King learned of the payment, he made no efforts to identify the funds or create written records. At some later date, the funds were removed from the safe. Mr. King was not able to determine when the funds were removed.
Mr. King’s conduct in these matters violated RPC 1.14, requiring lawyers to identify and label clients’ property and maintain complete records of client funds and property in the lawyer’s possession.
Tax Matters: Mr. King did not stipulate to the facts in these matters, but agreed that if they proceeded to a public hearing, there is a substantial likelihood that the Association would be able to prove these facts. From 1996 through 2000, Mr. King failed to file returns and pay business and occupation tax to the Department of Revenue. After the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) began the investigation, Mr. King filed the returns and paid the taxes and penalties. During this same time period, Mr. King always employed at least one full-time non-lawyer assistant. Mr. King knowingly failed to report his payroll amount to the Department of Labor and Industries. Additionally, Mr. King failed to file federal tax returns for 1996 through 2000. After ODC began this investigation, Mr. King filed returns for 1996 through 1999 and obtained an extension for 2000.
Mr. King’s conduct in these matters violated RPCs 8.4(b), prohibiting committing a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; and 8.4(c), prohibiting conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.
Robert Deutscher and Becky Neal represented the Bar Association. Peter Cogan represented Mr. King.
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