November 2000

Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Annual Report

The Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection has filed its annual report with the Supreme Court. This year, as part of the WSBA consumer information program, the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Committee drafted a pamphlet describing the purposes of the fund and how to apply to it.

In addition, the committee reviewed 85 applications to the fund concerning 31 lawyers. Forty-one (41) applications were approved. Of the denials, 35 were deemed fee disputes, malpractice, or showed no evidence of a dishonest taking of funds; four had received full restitution; three were denied for other reasons; and two were deferred. The following applications were approved:

Dennis M. Brouner (WSBA No. 8859, Seattle; disbarred)

Brouner maintained a bankruptcy practice that was co-owned by a suspended Arizona lawyer. Brouner placed his law firm in bankruptcy and was eventually prohibited by the bankruptcy court from filing bankruptcy proceedings on behalf of others. Last year, the committee approved 15 applications concerning Brouner (ranging between $149 and $6,000). Like many of the previous applications, these two involved failure to return unearned fees. The committee approved payment of $894 and $775 to the applicants.

Charles W. Burns, Jr. (WSBA No. 12957, Colville; disbarred)

Of nine applications, six involved unearned fees in amounts ranging from $393 to $750; two concerned $2,500 and $1,375 Burns was to hold in trust but failed to pay to the client; and one involved a pickup truck Burns was to hold as security for the owner's mother's legal fees. Burns sold the truck for $3,200 despite the fact that the mother had paid all earned fees.

Irving Leroy Dane (WSBA No. 6587, Vancouver; disbarred)

Dane pled guilty to one count of first-degree theft of client funds. Three applications were approved. The first was for $30,000 from insurance settlement funds Dane was to hold in trust but never paid to the client. The second application was for $12,187.50 in trust funds paid by the mother of a former client in a criminal case as advance fees and costs on behalf of her son. Dane never accounted for his fees or returned any unearned fees. In Dane's criminal conviction and sentencing, the judge ordered restitution to the mother of $12,187.50 in unearned fees. The third application was for $10,494 from settlement funds in a personal injury case Dane was to hold. Dane misappropriated the client's funds to make a $14,000 house payment.

Charles D. Fornero (WSBA No. 20971, Seattle; disbarred)

In 1998, the committee approved two payments regarding Fornero for $930 and $715. In this year's case, $3,988 was approved for payment representing unearned legal fees and funds misappropriated in a real estate transaction.

Grant L. Harken (WSBA No. 11842, Burien; disbarred)

Harken misappropriated $2,380.11 from settlement funds in a personal injury

case. Harken had also misappropriated $11,584 owed to the client's employer on a surrogated claim, but those funds were repaid when the misappropriation was discovered.

James A. Heard (WSBA No. 12272, Aberdeen; suspended)

The committee previously approved two applications for $2,000 and $1,500 for failure to return unearned fees. Two additional applications were approved for payment this year. The first was for $5,000 in a matter in which the client hired Heard to prepare a report on allegations of corruption in the county prosecutor's and sheriff's offices. Heard told his client that he had tried to give the report to someone at the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, but had been refused. Heard never accounted for or refunded any of the fees. The second application was for $150 paid for representation on a misdemeanor charge in municipal court. Heard filed a notice of appearance but failed to appear, and the client never heard from Heard again.

William R. Hebeler (WSBA No. 14373, Lynnwood; deceased)

There were two applications. In the first, the client paid Hebeler $500 to prepare an application for citizenship. Hebeler failed to prepare the application or refund the client's fee. In the second application, clients hired Hebeler to obtain nonresident visas or "green cards," and they paid him $6,500. Hebeler moved out of state without filing the applications. The clients were required to leave the United States and return to Korea.

Richard A. Jackson (WSBA No. 5675, Renton; disbarred)

Jackson abandoned his practice in November 1997, after removing nearly all client funds from his trust account. On February 10, 2000, he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree theft. The committee and trustees approved seven applications concerning Jackson.

• The client gave Jackson a cashier's check for $6,000 to be transferred to the client's former wife's lawyer. Jackson misappropriated the funds, telling his legal assistant that he used the funds to pay his own back child support.

• The client paid Jackson an advance fee deposit of $750 to clear title to her property. Jackson abandoned her case but made no refund of unearned fees.

• The purchaser gave Jackson $3,000 as earnest money on the sale of his clients' home. Jackson abandoned the matter and misappropriated the $3,000.

• Jackson wrote wills for the client and her sister. The sister died in August 1997, and Jackson was appointed personal representative. He then withdrew $9,536.10, all of the sister's assets, from her bank account. Jackson misappropriated these funds to his own use.

• Clients hired Jackson for representation in a matter involving "the future of our six-year-old granddaughter." They paid an advance fee deposit of $1,500, against which Jackson billed for his services. The last billing statement to the clients, dated October 23, 1997, showed a credit balance of $520.30. When Jackson abandoned the clients' case, he did not refund this balance or account for the funds.

• As part of the property settlement in a marriage dissolution, a cashier's check was issued payable to the client and Jackson in the amount of $9,212.32. The client endorsed the check and gave it to Jackson to deposit to his trust account. Jackson failed to deliver or account for $4,336.65 of those funds. The client wrote to the Fund Committee: "I want to take this time to thank you and your staff for researching my case with Richard A. Jackson who was disbarred earlier this month. I really appreciate all of your help in this matter."

• The client paid Jackson $1,500 as an advance fee deposit. The hearing officer found that Jackson "earned approximately $300" and that "approximately $1,200 … remained unearned." He ordered restitution in the amount of $1,200. Payment in that amount was approved from the fund.

Zachary A. Kinneman (WSBA No. 19443, Seattle; suspended, stipulated to disbarment)

Two clients were condominium residents who hired Kinneman to represent them in a claim against the condominium management company. They each paid Kinneman $500. Kinneman abandoned their case without performing any legal services, never returned the fees the clients paid him, or rendered any accounting for them. He stipulated to pay restitution of $500 to each client.

Michael B. Markham (WSBA No. 11388, Seattle; suspended)

Markham pled guilty to the federal felony offense of attempted tax evasion on May 9, 1997. Three applications were approved. In the first, the client overpaid a creditor's bill. They refunded the $613 overpayment to Markham, who deposited it to his personal account and never refunded the $613 to the client. In the second application, Markham was to pay the client's $1,801 medical bill from settlement proceeds but did not do so. In the third application, Markham misappropriated $1,346.84 from Labor and Industry (L&I) proceeds owing to the client.

Melinda Monet (WSBA No. 25676, Seattle; interim suspension pending discipline)

Last year, the committee approved 28 applications concerning Monet (ranging between $200 and $900). She abandoned a large number of clients' cases without returning or accounting for advance fees and costs paid to her. In one of the current cases, the client paid advance fees and costs to Monet. Monet filed a bankruptcy petition, but her check for the filing fee was returned NSF, therefore the client had to repay the filing fee of $175. In the second application, the client gave Monet a check for the $175 filing fee made payable to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Monet changed the payee to herself and misappropriated the funds. In the third application, the client paid Monet $380 to file a marriage dissolution petition that was never filed, and the fees and costs were never returned.

Brad A. Plumb (WSBA No. 20337, Spokane; disbarred)

The client paid Plumb $2,000 in advance fees and costs for a child support modification proceeding. Plumb abandoned the case without filing any pleadings, and without returning or accounting for the client's fees and costs.

Kelly M. Seidlitz (WSBA No. 17470, Tacoma; disbarred)

There were three applications. In the first, Seidlitz received a settlement payment of $20,000, which he deposited to his trust account with the client's forged endorsement. He disbursed funds to the client, but withheld $1,200 to pay a medical bill already paid by the client. The client made repeated requests for the $1,200 from Seidlitz, whose only response was to send her a check for $807.50, with no explanation. Seidlitz never accounted for the $392.50 balance. In the second application, Seidlitz settled the client's claims for $8,500, and sent the client $3,700. He enclosed a disbursal statement showing that he was withholding $2,476 for payment to the client's treating physician. Seidlitz never made that payment to the doctor or accounted for the withheld funds. In the third application, the client paid Seidlitz $1,000 in a marriage dissolution. Seidlitz did not advise his client of or appear for a hearing on temporary child support. When custody was awarded to the client's wife, the client learned of it from his wife. The client fired Seidlitz and demanded a return of his fees. Seidlitz failed to withdraw, did no further work on the case, made no refund, and provided no accounting for the funds. Payment of $1,000 to the client was approved from the fund.

Jerold R. Weidenkopf (WSBA No. 12438, Tacoma; disbarred)

The client employed Weidenkopf in connection with a modification of the parenting plan brought by her former husband, paying Weidenkopf $450. Weidenkopf failed to appear for the hearing and never refunded the client's fees.

For a copy of the 1999 Annual Report of the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection or the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection pamphlet, call the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA, or e-mail your request with your mailing address to license@wsba.org.

Finally, as noted before, the victims of dishonest lawyers who receive some compensation from the fund on occasion send thank you notes. A recent note reads: "Thank you so much for working on this for me. It's nice to have someone on my side for once. Thank you."

The committee chair is Seattle attorney Barbara J. Selberg. WSBA General Counsel Robert Welden is staff liaison to the committee.