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Joe Wickersham (WSBA No. 18816, admitted 1989), of Renton, was ordered to receive a reprimand on September 21, 2006, following a stipulation approved by a hearing officer. This discipline was based on his conduct in 2005 involving an unreasonable fee and a prohibited division of fee.
In January 2005, Mr. Wickersham agreed to represent a defendant in three criminal cases pending in municipal court. Mr. Wickersham was hired by the defendant’s father, who signed a fee agreement indicating that Mr. Wickersham was to be paid a total of $5,000 for the representation. The defendant’s father paid $1,500 that day. The fee agreement indicated the remaining $3,500 was to be paid within 30 days and included the following relevant paragraphs:
1. The Client hires the Attorney [Law Office of Joe Wickersham] and have [sic] entered into a contract wherein the Client has agreed to pay the attorney $5,000 for Des Moines DV charges – 3. If the case proceeds to Jury/Bench Trial, including the preparation and appearing at court on day of trial, an additional fee of $350.00 per hour will be charged . . . .
7. The Client also agrees to allow the attorney to associate with another attorney and delegate any work to another attorney, as the attorney is inclined to do.
Neither Mr. Wickersham, nor anyone who worked in his office, ever met or spoke with the defendant, filed a notice of appearance in the defendant’s case, or did any work on those cases. Mr. Wickersham contacted a sole practitioner working in another office and asked her to appear at the defendant’s next court hearing. This lawyer (hereinafter “surrogate lawyer”) agreed to handle the defendant’s cases. She appeared in court and filed a notice of appearance on the defendant’s behalf. These notices made no mention of Mr. Wickersham. In February 2005, Mr. Wickersham sent the surrogate lawyer a letter that read as follows:
Enclosed is a check in the amount of $500.00 for your representation of [defendant’s] three Des Moines DV matters.
As discussed, this payment represents all fees that will be paid to you by our office for your representation. Per the Fee Agreement, you can bill the client $350.00 per hour for trial and trial preparation.
The surrogate lawyer was unaware of the specifics of the fee agreement between Mr. Wickersham and the defendant’s father. She understood that she was representing the defendant up to trial for $500 and could bill him for additional fees if a case went to trial. Mr. Wickersham never spoke with the defendant and the defendant’s father about this arrangement, did not assume joint responsibility for representation of the defendant, and did not perform any duties on the defendant’s behalf. Nonetheless, Mr. Wickersham kept $1,000 of the original fee payment. Mr. Wickersham’s office sought payment of the remaining $3,500 from the defendant’s father by sending him monthly amount-due notices. Mr. Wickersham was not aware that his staff was sending these bills. The surrogate lawyer continued to represent the defendant until June 2005, when another lawyer substituted for her. Subsequently, a public defender was appointed to represent the defendant.
Mr. Wickersham’s conduct violated RPC 1.5(a), requiring that a lawyer’s fee be reasonable; and RPC 1.5(e)(2), allowing a division of fees between lawyers who are not in the same firm to be made only if the division is in proportion to the services provided by each lawyer or, by written agreement with the client, each lawyer assumes joint responsibility for the representation, the client is advised of and does not object to the participation of all the lawyers involved, and the total fee is reasonable.
M. Craig Bray represented the Bar Association. Mr. Wickersham represented himself. William J. Murphy was the hearing officer. |