Social Insecurity

The Indiana Supreme  Court has disbarred an attorney for two counts of misconduct.

One matter involved neglect of a client matter; the other

Respondent employed “Assistant” from 2005 until Assistant quit in early 2018. During that time Respondent withheld money for Social Security from Assistant’s earnings, but instead of depositing those sums with the federal government, he instead converted those funds for his own personal use.

In late 2017 Assistant received a Social Security statement showing she had no earnings for any of the years she had worked for Respondent. Assistant confronted Respondent about this and Respondent promised he would get it corrected, but Respondent never did so. Respondent also failed to respond to the Commission’s demand for information on this matter.

Sanction

Respondent stole earnings from Assistant (his sole employee) during the entire twelve plus years of her employment, violating both state and federal criminal law in the process. Respondent severely neglected Client’s case, resulting in financial detriment to Client. Respondent has shown absolutely no remorse for, or insight into, his misconduct. Respondent refused to cooperate with the Commission’s investigations, has refused to meaningfully participate in these disciplinary proceedings, and has filed no petition for review, brief on sanction, or responsive brief in this Court. Under these circumstances, and based on the record before us, we conclude that Respondent should be disbarred.

(Mike Frisch)