Little Experience Mitigating Factor

The Indiana Supreme Court ordered a 90-day suspension with automatic reinstatement of an attorney who violated ethics rules in two matters.

Count Two

The Muslim Alliance of Indiana (“MAI”), a not-for-profit community services organization, operated a legal clinic to provide legal services to persons of limited means in Indiana. To operate the legal clinic, MAI contracted with various attorneys, including Respondent. MAI had a strict policy that if a client was not timely paying his or her fees, the attorney handling the matter would withdraw.

In December 2009, C.R. entered into a fee agreement with the MAI legal clinic under which Respondent would represent her in seeking to adopt her sister’s children. At the time, the children were already subjects of an adoption action filed by the children’s foster parents. Respondent did not seek to intervene on behalf of C.R. in the pending adoption case, nor did she take any other action on behalf of C.R. On March 4, 2010, the court in the pending adoption case issued an order under which the foster parents became the adoptive parents of the children. The following day, Respondent filed a new adoption petition on behalf of C.R. in the same county, making no mention of the prior adoption action. On the same day, MAI sent a notice to C.R. that she was delinquent on her legal fees and that MAI and/or Respondent would withdraw if not promptly paid. Respondent took no further action in the new adoption case. In February 2011, Respondent terminated her agreement with MAI and withdrew her appearance in the new adoption case, which later was dismissed.

Mitigation

(1) Although Respondent was admitted to practice in 2004, she did not maintain an active law practice and had very little experience at the time of the representations at issue here; and (2) Respondent has no prior discipline.

The violations included failure to provide diligent representation and false statement to disciplinary counsel. (Mike Frisch)