Restitution And Suspension For Misconduct In Representing Widow Of Former Cleveland Mayor
The Ohio Supreme Court has decided a case involving two attorneys (brother and sister) who had represented the widow of former Cleveland Mayor Ralph Locher.
Locher retained GM&M in June 2004 to administer the estate of her late husband, Ralph S. Locher, a former mayor of Cleveland and a former justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Having come to increasingly rely on Joseph Mamone, on Zoller, and to a lesser extent on Edward Mamone, after the administration of the estate was complete, Mrs. Locher later engaged GM&M to manage her money, to pay her bills, and to handle other aspects of her financial and personal life. Mrs. Locher sought to be able to live independently in her own home, to afford around-the-clock care, and to make generous gifts to her family members and charitable causes.
In November 2013, relator, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, charged Zoller and the Mamones with multiple ethical violations related to services they had performed over a number of years for their client, Eleanor Locher, who had passed away in 2010. We accepted Joseph Mamone’s resignation from the practice of law in Ohio with disciplinary action pending, effective April 18, 2014…
Consistent with the parties’ stipulations, the board found that both Zoller and Mamone violated Prof.Cond.R. 1.15(a) (requiring a lawyer to hold a client’s funds in an interest-bearing account with a clearly identifiable fiduciary title), 1.15(a)(2) (requiring a lawyer to maintain a complete record of an account held by the lawyer containing a client’s funds), and 1.15(a)(5) (requiring a lawyer to perform and retain a monthly reconciliation of an account held by the lawyer containing a client’s funds) and that Zoller also violated Prof.Cond.R. 1.5(a) (prohibiting a lawyer from making an agreement for, charging, or collecting a clearly excessive fee). We adopt the board’s findings of fact and misconduct.
As to attorney Zoller
In an August 11, 2014 report, the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline (now known as the Board of Professional Conduct) found that Zoller had charged Locher excessive legal fees and that Zoller and Edward Mamone had committed other ethical violations in administering an account that the law firm had established to manage Locher’s funds. The board recommended that Zoller be suspended from the practice of law for one year and that Mamone be suspended for six months, with both suspensions fully stayed on the condition that they engage in no further misconduct. But the board rejected the hearing panel’s recommendation that Zoller be required to make restitution to Locher’s estate.
The court remanded for consideration of the restitution issue.
Here, both attorneys were suspended for one year and ordered to pay restitution
We recognize that the calculation of restitution for nonlegal tasks charged at attorney rates in this case is challenging given Zoller’s failure to maintain complete and contemporaneous records of the work she performed for and fees she billed to Mrs. Locher. Given the explanation provided by the parties, however, we are confident that the firm was paid for at least 64.5 hours of nonlegal work at attorney rates. Therefore, we adopt the board’s recommendations regarding restitution…
Nancy Anne Zoller and Edward James Mamone are suspended from the practice of law for one year. Before seeking reinstatement to the practice of law in Ohio, Zoller shall make restitution of $30,466 to Eleanor Locher’s estate and Mamone shall make restitution of $11,116 to Eleanor Locher’s estate. Costs of these proceedings are assessed jointly and severally against Zoller and Mamone.
One dissent would suspend both attorneys for two years.
Another dissent would impose a six-month suspension of Mamone. (Mike Frisch)