Making Matters Worse

A Pennsylvania lawyer was the subject of a client complaint. The lawyer had previously been privately reprimanded twice. Disciplinary Counsel resolved this complaint by an informal admonition and directed the lawyer to return $500 to the client. In Pennsylvania, the lawyer must appear and have an informal admonition administered in person. The lawyer twice failed to appear for the admonition. The first time, she “didn’t want to also go in and have to admit things that weren’t true”and “part of [her] didn’t want to deal with it.” The second time, she acknowledged she “probably should have just dropped everything and gone down” to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel. She also did not refund the money to the client.

   As a result, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered a 90 day suspension. (Mike Frisch)