Breach Of Fiduciary Duty

The California Bar Journal reports a recent bar discipline case involving a conflict of interest and breach of fiduciary duty to a two-month old child that the attorney had been appointed to represent:

[The attorney] was appointed by the juvenile division of the San Francisco Superior  Court to represent a 2-month-old baby in a guardianship matter. He was a long-time  member of the Bar Association of San Francisco’s mental health panel  and often represented juveniles in dependency matters.

The child had been removed from her 19-year-old mother, herself a victim of  physical and sexual abuse, as a result of general neglect. Koch took a personal  interest in the mother, who had to prove she could provide housing and a stable  environment for the baby in order to be reunited with her. [The attorney] paid the mother’s  rent and gave her money for personal expenses.

The mother’s lawyer notified the court of [the attorney]’s conflict-of-interest  after learning that he was giving her money. [The attorney] resigned as counsel for the  baby but subsequently began a sexual relationship with the mother and gave  her financial support, including paying for her psychiatric and dental care,  medications and housing. He also gave her a computer and arranged for instruction.

He signed a lease guaranty for the woman, knowing she had to provide stable  housing in order to regain custody of her daughter. [The attorney] also began to interfere with the dependency court proceedings, contacting the parties, social workers and a court-appointed child advocate.

His actions took place while he owed a fiduciary duty to the baby.

When the court learned of his relationship with the mother, [The attorney] was suspended  from representing clients or patients assigned by the court. He later was put  on probationary status to continue to receive cases.

[The attorney] stipulated that he had an improper relationship with a party in a case  he handled and he violated his fiduciary duty to his client.

In mitigation, he has no discipline record in 27 years of practice and he  has emotional problems for which he obtained treatment.

The sanction was a stayed one-year suspension, three years probation, and a requirement that he take and pass the MPRE. (Mike Frisch)