| Description: |
W. Russell Van Camp (WSBA No. 5385, admitted 1973), of Spokane, was ordered to receive a reprimand, effective September 9, 2004, following a hearing. This discipline was based on his conduct in 1996 involving failure to sufficiently explain the terms of a fee agreement to a client and removal of funds from his trust account as fees before they were earned.
In June 1996, a client hired Mr. Van Camp to handle a medical malpractice case against a Spokane physician. The client signed a contingent fee agreement and paid Mr. Van Camp $1,000. This sum, characterized in the fee agreement as an “earned retainer fee,” was an advance payment for attorney fees and costs to be incurred in conducting an initial investigation into the viability of the claim. Mr. Van Camp did not adequately explain the nature of the “earned retainer fee” to the client, who did not fully understand the purpose of the payment.
Promptly after the $1,000 was deposited into Mr. Van Camp’s trust account, Mr. Van Camp disbursed $35 to pay for medical records and $900 to himself as a fee. At that point, the fee had not yet been earned. Over the course of the next several months, the client advanced additional sums to pay for the costs of obtaining medical records and review of the case by a medical expert. The expert, a local medical practitioner, opined that he could find no evidence of medical malpractice. For this reason, Mr. Van Camp advised the client not to invest further in the case without seeking the opinion of an out-of-state medical expert.
In March 1997, at the client’s behest, Mr. Van Camp filed a complaint against the Spokane physician; because the statute of limitations would shortly run, this was a precautionary filing to permit the client to decide whether to proceed. Ultimately, the client elected not to proceed and asked Mr. Van Camp to drop the lawsuit. Mr. Van Camp refunded the balance remaining in his trust account and instructed an associate to obtain a dismissal. In August 1997, an agreed order of dismissal was entered.
Mr. Van Camp’s conduct violated RPC 1.4(b), requiring a lawyer to explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation; and RPC 1.14(a), requiring all funds of clients paid to a lawyer to be deposited in an interest-bearing trust account.
Jean K. McElroy represented the Bar Association. F. Lawrence Taylor Jr. represented Mr. Van Camp. Diehl R. Rettig was the hearing officer. |