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F. Lawrence Taylor Jr. (WSBA No. 3329, admitted 1971), of Renton, received a reprimand on September 19, 2007, following approval of a stipulation by a hearing officer. This discipline was based on conduct involving unreasonable fees and improper use of attorney's liens.
Mr. Taylor's practice consists mostly of plaintiff personal injury, and many of his clients are from Russia and the Ukraine. When clients hire him, Mr. Taylor has them execute a fee agreement written in English. If the client speaks little or no English, clients meet with one of Mr. Taylor's Russian-speaking or Ukrainian-speaking staff to ensure that they understand the agreement. Prior to March 2007, the fee agreement provided that in the event the client discharges the attorney or the attorney withdraws for cause, the client would agree to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered which would be calculated as "not less than the time expended, or the agreed upon contingency percentage of the last offer received whichever is more…. [C]lient understands that when attorney has been able to obtain the receipt of an offer, attorney has substantially performed the contingency herein." Mr. Taylor asserts that he never enforced this provision in his fee agreement.
In November 2004, Mr. Taylor terminated a bilingual paralegal. This paralegal later did contract work for a Bellevue law firm. Approximately 30 of Mr. Taylor's clients transferred their cases to the Bellevue firm. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Taylor sent some of these former clients a "Bill for Services Rendered" (bill). He included with the bill a "Notice of Attorney Lien" (notice), which indicated that a lien had already been recorded with the King County Recorder's Office by Mr. Taylor. Several of the bills included charges for preparing and sending out copies of the notice and, in one or more instances, the client whose real property could have been affected by the lien did not learn about Mr. Taylor's intention to file an attorney's lien until after he sent the client the notice. Mr. Taylor filed at least 20 such notices, ranging between $509.39 and $16,665.12, with the King County Recorder's Office. The notices were entered into the Recorder's Office public record. Mr. Taylor asserts that he filed the liens because there was no agreement to apportion fees between himself and the firm, who had assumed representation of the clients.
In the fall of 2005, one of Mr. Taylor's former clients tried to refinance his home. The former client states that he was told by his mortgage broker that Mr. Taylor's lien would need to be satisfied from any loan proceeds received by the client in the refinance. The client asserts that because he disputed the amount claimed by Mr. Taylor, he was not willing to pay the lien and, as a result, he decided not to proceed with the refinance. The client maintains that he lost the opportunity to obtain a particularly favorable rate, and that it would cost him more to refinance now. Mr. Taylor subsequently released all his attorney's liens for the relevant clients and changed his fee agreement to remove the language regarding the contingency being substantially performed based on receipt of an offer by the opposing party.
Mr. Taylor's conduct violated RPC 1.2(a), requiring a lawyer to abide by a client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation and consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued; RPC 1.5(a), requiring a lawyer's fee to be reasonable; and RPC 8.4(d), prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.
Kevin M. Bank represented the Bar Association. Mr. Taylor represented himself. David W. Wiley was the hearing officer. |