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Craig Stilwill (WSBA No. 17740, admitted 1988), of Kennewick, was suspended for three months, effective July 18, 2007, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following approval of a stipulation by the Disciplinary Board. This discipline was based on conduct involving failure to take any action in a client matter, lack of communication, trust account irregularities, failure to return client funds when requested to do so by the client, and failure to file a trust account declaration.
In January 2003, Mr. Stilwill was hired by a client to research and prepare for him, if possible, an expungement of a criminal conviction. Mr. Stilwill received $750 by check for his fee, which he did not deposit into his trust account. On several occasions in the winter of 2003, the client asked Mr. Stilwill about the status of the matter. Mr. Stilwill started the research and compiled information, but did not communicate the results of his efforts to the client and completed no work that benefited the client. In March, Mr. Stilwill closed his law practice and began to work as a court commissioner. When closing down his office, Mr. Stilwill did not inform his client that he would no longer be able to represent him. The client continued to call Mr. Stilwill to find out the status of his case. The client never heard back from Mr. Stilwill and, eventually, the telephone number for Mr. Stilwill's office was disconnected.
In approximately May 2004, the client sent a letter to Mr. Stilwill by certified mail asking for an accounting or a refund. Mr. Stilwill subsequently telephoned the client and told him he was leaving town and would check his files when he returned and refund his fee to him. Mr. Stilwill did not provide an accounting or refund to the client. The client wrote to Mr. Stilwill again in April 2005, with no response. The client filed a grievance with the Bar Association in May.
When Mr. Stilwill closed his trust account in August 2005, he had no trust account records to document the ownership of the balance he removed from his trust account. In a letter to the Bar Association, Mr. Stilwill stated that "[w]ith the exception of $37.00 (which was part of the initial deposit to open the account), I cannot inform you as to the source of the funds in the account…. However, I am confident that I was the owner of the balance of the money and had not billed for it yet." The $699.95 that Mr. Stilwill removed from his trust account in August 2005 had been in the trust account since at least January 2002. From approximately April 2003, when he closed his practice, until August 2005, when he closed his trust account, Mr. Stilwill did not maintain complete trust account records and did not reconcile his trust account ledger cards to his trust account statement. The Bar Association had been unable to identify the ownership of the funds in Mr. Stilwill's trust account at the time he closed it. No clients complained about missing funds or funds Mr. Stilwill should have been holding in their behalf.
Former Rule 13.5(a) of the Rules for Lawyer Discipline (RLD) required each active lawyer to complete, execute, and deliver to the Bar Association a trust account declaration annually. In 2002, the deadline for filing the trust account declaration was February 1, 2002. Mr. Stilwill did not file a trust account declaration in 2002. The Bar Association sent him letters in May and June reminding him of his obligation to file the declaration, regardless of whether he had a trust account. Mr. Stilwill did not respond to these letters.
Mr. Stilwill's conduct violated RPC 1.3, requiring a lawyer to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client; RPC 1.4, requiring a lawyer to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter, to promptly comply with reasonable requests for information, and to explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation; former RPC 1.14(a), requiring all funds of clients paid to a lawyer or law firm be deposited in one or more identifiable interest-bearing trust accounts and no funds belonging to the lawyer or law firm be deposited therein; former RPC 1.14(b)(3), requiring a lawyer to maintain complete records of all funds, securities, and other properties of a client promptly upon receipt; former RPC 1.14(b)(4), requiring a lawyer to promptly pay or deliver to the client as requested by a client the funds, securities, or other properties in the possession of the lawyer which the client is entitled to receive; and former RLD 13.5(a), requiring a lawyer to file a trust account declaration with the Bar Association.
Joanne S. Abelson represented the Bar Association. Mr. Stilwill represented himself. |