Pistols At Dawn

An amended complaint filed by the Illinois Administrator alleges misconduct in two client matters. 

In one, the attorney allegedly forced a  divorce client to sign a promissory note after his motion to withdraw was denied

After the court denied Respondent’s motion for leave to withdraw as Nzeribe’s counsel and ordered Nzeribe to appear at the law offices of Sarah’s counsel for his deposition on that same day, Respondent asked Nzeribe to pay him $10,000 in additional legal fees. Nzeribe refused. Respondent advised Nzeribe that he would not represent him at the deposition later that day unless he signed a Promissory Note requiring Nzeribe to pay Respondent $10,000 in installments over the next four years. Nzeribe agreed to sign a Promissory Note, because he believed that he had no alternative, if he wanted representation at the deposition and at the trial, which was set to begin on May 21, 2012.

Sometime after the May 16, 2012 court appearance and before May 23, 2012, Respondent prepared a Promissory Note (“the Note”). The Note purported to require that Nzeribe, the purported borrower, pay Respondent, the purported lender, the sum of $10,000, together with interest thereon at the rate of four percent per annum. Pursuant to the terms of the Note, Nzeribe was to pay Respondent $250 per month starting on July 15, 2012. At the time Respondent prepared the Note, Nzeribe did not owe $10,000 to Respondent.

The other matter involved, among other things, this communication to the client

 Respondent’s e-mail and text messages to Rutkowski never explained the basis for Respondent’s claimed fee, or the method of its calculation, other than to say that fee agreements were not required “in these matters and not between men. My mistake, there is only one man involved between us. I challenge you to a duel, you pick the time, place and manner.”

The attorney’s answer is linked here. (Mike Frisch)