The Ohio Supreme Court imposed a stayed suspension

In a September 2017 complaint, relator, Columbus Bar Association, alleged that Chodosh violated multiple professional-conduct rules by failing to reasonably communicate with two personal-injury clients and by failing to properly disclose to those clients his fee-sharing arrangement with attorneys outside his firm. Relator further alleged that Chodosh engaged in dishonest conduct by forging the signature of one of those clients on several legal documents and allowing one of those signatures to be falsely notarized, that he failed to properly execute a closing statement at the conclusion of that client’s case, and that he revealed confidential information about the other client’s representation without her consent.

The parties entered into stipulations of fact and agreed that Chodosh committed some of the alleged misconduct, but they disputed one alleged rule violation and relator agreed to dismiss two others. They also stipulated to the relevant aggravating and mitigating factors and agreed that the appropriate sanction for Chodosh’s misconduct client (Cline) fell on a carpetis a stayed 12-month suspension.

The client (Cline) “caught the heel of her shoe on loose carpet and fell down a flight of stairs in a common area of the apartment building where she resided.”

Cline also signed a fee agreement in which she agreed to pay Chodosh a contingency fee of 33⅓ percent if her case settled before trial. The agreement further provided, “Client agrees that Donahey Law Office, Attorney, is co-counsel in this case and will receive 33⅓% of any fees collected.” Chodosh verbally informed Cline that the firm would share his fee, but he never informed Cline in writing that each lawyer was assuming joint responsibility for the representation or that the division of fees would correspond to the proportion of the services each lawyer performed.