Unaccounted For
An attorney who had “impeded” the investigation of disciplinary charges of his conduct as executor of an estate has been disbarred by the Rhode Island Supreme Court
The Disciplinary Board found that Disciplinary Counsel’s investigation included a review of respondent’s bank statements for his IOLTA account. There were twenty-eight (28) checks written from July 2014 through August 2019 from the Estate totaling $243,115.50 paid to respondent, with $175,170 paid to McAleer and McAleer and $69,945 paid to either James McAleer or James F. McAleer. The Board found that respondent provided no accounting of what those funds were for or where the money was. As of March 1, 2020, $1,979.32 remained in the IOLTA account for the benefit of the Estate, and an additional $120,901.99 remained unaccounted for.
At the hearing, Disciplinary Counsel offered the Petition and forty-eight (48) exhibits into evidence, which were admitted in full over respondent’s objection. The basis for respondent’s objection was he had not “been able to get to the files” because of a lifting and walking restriction, presumably imposed by a medical care provider. The only exhibits respondent offered into evidence, which were admitted over Disciplinary Counsel’s objections, were certain medical documentation from the timeframe of June 2023 and July 2023.
When asked directly by the Hearing Panel if he had any explanation in response to the allegations or if he had anything to offer in mitigation, respondent repeatedly indicated that he “would have to get the files” and he attempted to have others retrieve files with no success. He also testified that two attorneys who had volunteered to search for the files had found some of the files but did not retrieve any documents. He further testified that his now-deceased secretary wrote certain checks at issue from his IOLTA account.
Chief Disciplinary Counsel Kerry Reilley Travers was sworn in at the hearing and testified regarding her investigation and interaction with respondent. Chief Travers testified that during the investigation she was contacted by an attorney with the firm from which respondent had rented office space. The attorney advised Chief Travers that respondent had been a tenant in their building and that he was being evicted. Chief Travers further testified that the attorney told her that respondent’s presence of a large number of client files, including the files that related to the investigation.
Chief Travers was advised that the firm had given respondent a “drop date set for removing the files from the office; and [she] had reached an agreement with [the attorney] that if he did not comply by that date, [she] would come in and retrieve the files that he had, essentially, abandoned at her office.” Right before the deadline, respondent sent a moving company to box and remove all the files. The respondent admitted to Chief Travers in a subsequent conversation that he had moved the files to his brother’s garage in Warwick, Rhode Island. In a February 2022 meeting, respondent refused Chief Travers’ request that her investigator be allowed to retrieve the files from the Warwick house. Chief Travers further testified that respondent’s actions “stymied” her efforts to obtain the files.
Sanction
Here, the Board found a complete lack of mitigating factors to warrant a lesser sanction, and in fact found that aggravating factors—namely, that respondent impeded Disciplinary Counsel’s investigation—warranted the imposition of the most severe disciplinary sanction…
We agree with the Board’s thorough analysis of the facts and evidence and adopt their recommendation. It should further be noted that at the show cause hearing, respondent failed to answer the Court’s questions about where the money is and failed to provide any mitigating circumstances or evidence to support his position that he has not been able to adequately defend himself, a claim which this Court finds self-serving and wholly unsubstantiated. Thus, we hereby disbar respondent James F. McAleer for his conduct.
(Mike Frisch)