A justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ordered a term suspension based on the report of the Board of Bar Examiners

A hearing committee concluded that the respondent knowingly misused payments received in advance on behalf of a client under a written hourly fee agreement, mooney that constituted a retainer as a matter of law and which should not have been withdrawn until the fee was earned. The committee characterized the misuse as a good faith mistake on the part of the lawyer, who claimed that the payment represented a flat fee, which he was entitled to draw down immediately. We do not agree that the respondent’s misuse of client funds was merely a mistake. The terms of the foe agreement were – and should have been – clear to the respondent. Rather than accept the committee’s recommendation of a six-month suspension with three months stayed, we recommend that the court suspend the respondent for the entirety of the six month period and that the court require him to file a petition for reinstatement if in the future he seeks readmission to the bar.