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Nicholas I. Goyak (WSBA No. 15289, admitted 1985), of McMinnville, Oregon, was suspended for six months, effective April 5, 2006, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court imposing reciprocal discipline in accordance with an order of the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon. This discipline is based on his conduct between 1998 and 2000 involving the crime of negotiating a bad check, trust-account irregularities, and failure to cooperate with a disciplinary investigation.
In July 1998, after experiencing financial difficulties, Mr. Goyak, a solo practitioner, stopped practicing law regularly. His income became irregular, and he would often meet his obligations with loans from family members and business associates. Between April 1998 and April 1999 Mr. Goyak wrote four checks payable to the City of Portland on his business and personal accounts. Mr. Goyak knew that he had insufficient funds in these accounts to cover the checks. City employees contacted Mr. Goyak about his delinquent account several times, both by telephone and by personally delivering bills. Each time, Mr. Goyak promised to pay, but failed to keep his promises. Thereafter, Mr. Goyak failed to respond to several attempts by the city to contact him, and his account was sent to the City Attorney’s Office for formal collection. It was not until after the City Attorney’s Office complained to the Oregon State Bar and threatened litigation that Mr. Goyak settled his account.
When the Oregon State Bar received the complaint from the City Attorney’s Office, disciplinary counsel attempted unsuccessfully to make contact with Mr. Goyak six times between March and August 2000. During the investigation of the complaint, Mr. Goyak did not produce requested records for over a year, and disciplinary counsel was ultimately required to subpoena them from Mr. Goyak’s bank. Mr. Goyak admitted that, between 1998 and 2000, he deposited his personal funds into his trust account, used the account as a personal bank account, and failed to keep or maintain adequate records of his trust account transactions.
Mr. Goyak’s conduct violated Oregon DR 1-102(A)(2), prohibiting a lawyer from committing a criminal act (here, negotiating bad checks) that reflects adversely on a lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness to practice law; DR 1-103(C), requiring a lawyer who is the subject of a disciplinary hearing to respond fully and truthfully to inquiries from and comply with reasonable requests of a tribunal or other authority empowered to investigate or act upon the conduct of lawyers; DR 9-101(A), requiring all funds of clients paid to a lawyer or law firm be deposited or maintained in one or more identifiable trust accounts and that no funds belonging to the lawyer or law firm be deposited therein; DR 9-101(C)(3), requiring a lawyer to promptly notify a client of the receipt of the client funds, securities, or other properties; identify and label securities or other properties of a client coming into the possession of the lawyer and place them in a safe deposit box or other place of safe keeping as soon as is practicable; maintain complete records of all funds, securities, and other properties of a client coming into the possession of the lawyer and render appropriate accounts to the lawyer’s client regarding them; and promptly pay or deliver to a client as requested by the client the funds, securities, or other properties in the possession of the lawyer which the client is entitled to receive.
Felice P. Congalton represented the Bar Association. Mr. Goyak represented himself. |