June 2009

Disciplinary Notices

These notices of imposition of disciplinary sanctions and actions are published pursuant to Rule 3.5(d) of the Washington State Supreme Court Rules for Enforcement of Lawyer Conduct, and pursuant to the February 18, 1995, policy statement of the WSBA Board of Governors. For a complete copy of any disciplinary decision, call the Washington State Disciplinary Board at 206-733-5926, leaving the case name, and your name and address.

Note: Approximately 30,000 persons are eligible to practice law in Washington state. Some of them share the same or similar names. Bar News strives to include a clarification whenever an attorney listed in the Disciplinary Notices has the same name as another WSBA member; however, all discipline reports should be read carefully for names, cities, and bar numbers.

Disbarred

Jonathan D. Sweigert (WSBA No. 20781, admitted 1991), of Kirkland, was disbarred, effective March 18, 2009, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following a default hearing. This discipline is based on conduct in 14 matters involving 55 counts of ethical violations.

Between approximately September 2005 and April 2008, Mr. Sweigert engaged in the following actions:

• Completed little or no work on behalf of clients;
• Failed to file lawsuits or serve all defendants in lawsuits within the statute of limitations;
• Failed to file or respond to motions;
• Failed to file documents required by court scheduling orders;
• Failed to forward interrogatories or serve answers to interrogatories;
• Failed to appear at scheduled hearings or pre-trial conferences, which resulted in clients’ cases being dismissed and the imposition of sanctions;
• Failed to keep clients reasonably informed regarding the status of their matters, and failed to respond to requests for information or keep scheduled appointments;
• Misrepresented to clients that their cases were in progress and/or nearing completion when they were not;
• Failed to inform clients that he would not appear at scheduled hearings or pre-trial conferences and, in one matter, intentionally misrepresented to a client that he was not able to attend an arraignment due to illness in order to obscure that fact that he was no longer licensed to practice law;
• Settled a case without clients’ knowledge or authority and failed to inform the clients of this settlement;
• Refused to refund clients’ fees after having done little or no work, and failed to account for or refund unused funds;
• Practiced law while suspended;
• Accepted fees from clients while suspended from practice, thereby committing the crime of second-degree theft by deception as proscribed by RCW 9A.56.040 and 9A.56.020(1)(b);
• Removed funds belonging to clients from his trust account and converted them to his own use;
• Failed to respond to disciplinary counsel’s requests for responses to grievances or appear at depositions; and
• Failed to serve disciplinary counsel with the required affidavit of compliance under Title 14 following suspension or inform clients that his license to practice law was suspended.

Mr. Sweigert’s conduct violated RPC 1.2(a), requiring a lawyer to abide by a client’s decisions concerning the objectives of representation and consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued; RPC 1.3, requiring a lawyer to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client; RPC 1.4, requiring a lawyer to keep a client reasonably informed about the status of a matter, promptly comply with reasonable requests for information, and explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation; former RPC 1.5(a) and current RPC 1.16(a)(1), requiring a lawyer’s fee to be reasonable; RPC 1.15(a), prohibiting a lawyer from representing a client or, where representation has already commenced, from withdrawing from representation of a client, if the representation will result in violation of the rules or other law, the lawyer’s physical or mental condition materially impairs his ability to represent the client, or the lawyer is discharged; RPC 1.15A(c), requiring a lawyer to hold property of clients and third persons separate from the lawyer’s own property; RPC 1.16(d), requiring that a lawyer, upon termination of representation, take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client’s interests, such as giving reasonable notice to the client and allowing time for employment of other counsel; RPC 3.4(c), prohibiting a lawyer from knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal except for an open refusal based on an assertion that no valid obligation exists; RPC 5.5(a), prohibiting a lawyer from practicing law in a jurisdiction where doing so violates the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction; RPC 5.8(a), prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in the practice of law while on inactive status, or while suspended from the practice of law for any cause; RPC 8.4(b), prohibiting a lawyer from committing a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; RPC 8.4(c), prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation; RPC 8.4(d), prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice; RPC 8.4(j), prohibiting a lawyer from willfully disobeying or violating a court order directing him or her to do or cease doing an act which he or she ought in good faith to do or forbear; and RPC 8.4(l), prohibiting a lawyer from violating a duty or sanction imposed by or under the Rules for Enforcement of Lawyer Conduct in connection with a disciplinary matter.

Francesca D’Angelo represented the Bar Association. Mr. Sweigert did not appear either in person or though counsel. Lee Grochmal was the hearing officer.

Suspended

Jo Nell Walker (WSBA No. 24526, admitted 1994), formerly of Vancouver, Washington, was suspended for six months, effective March 18, 2009, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following a default hearing. This discipline is based on conduct involving failure to communicate, failure to perform work, and failure to return the client’s fees promptly upon termination.

On March 22, 2007, Mr. P paid Ms. Walker $500 to represent him in an issue related to his parenting plan. Ms. Walker did very little work, if any, on Mr. P’s case. Mr. P called Ms. Walker repeatedly, dropped by her office, and left her notes. Ms. Walker did not return any of his calls or messages. Even when Ms. Walker was present during such client visits, she refused to see him because she said she was “too busy.” On June 8, 2007, Mr. P fired Ms. Walker. Ms. Walker failed to refund any of Mr. P’s fees for over eight months.

Ms. Walker’s conduct violated RPC 1.3, requiring a lawyer to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client; RPC 1.4, requiring a lawyer to keep the client reasonably informed about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for information; RPC 1.5, prohibiting a lawyer from making an agreement for, charging, or collecting unreasonable fees; and RPC 1.16(d), requiring a lawyer, upon termination of representation, to take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client’s interests, such as refunding any advance payment of fee or expense that has not been earned or incurred.

Erica Temple and Francesca D’Angelo represented the Bar Association. Jo Nell Walker did not appear either in person or through counsel. Lewis W. Card was the hearing officer.

Suspended

Dean E. White (WSBA No. 27282, admitted 1997), of Spokane, was suspended for six months, effective March 16, 2009, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following approval of a stipulation. This discipline was based on conduct involving the commission of a felony crime.

On November 7, 2007, Mr. White engaged in an altercation with his then-girlfriend, Ms. P, who was also his law partner at that time. On October 8, 2008, Mr. White entered a guilty plea to the crime of unlawful imprisonment involving domestic violence (RCW 9A.40.040), a class-C felony, based on the November 7, 2007, event. Mr. White’s guilty plea was an Alford plea by which he agreed to allow the court to review the police records and/or statement of probable cause supplied by the prosecution. The statement of probable cause contains the following allegations: Mr. White and Ms. P got into an argument after Mr. White backed into a vehicle in a parking lot and refused to leave information on the vehicle. At the time, Mr. White was driving Ms. P’s automobile. Mr. White drove Ms. P to their law office. He then forced her into the office and used her keys to lock the door behind him, trapping her in the building. A third party witnessed part of the altercation from outside the office and called the police, who arrived and freed Ms. P. There were allegations that Mr. White assaulted Ms. P, which were dismissed in the criminal proceedings as part of the plea bargain.

Mr. White’s conduct violated RPC 8.4(b), prohibiting a lawyer from committing a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; and RPC 8.4(i), prohibiting a lawyer from committing any act involving moral turpitude, or corruption, or any unjustified act of assault or other act which reflects disregard for the rule of the law, whether the same be committed in the course of his or her conduct as a lawyer or otherwise.

Jonathan H. Burke represented the Bar Association. Julie A. Twyford represented Mr. White.

Non-Disciplinary Notice

Suspended Pending the Outcome of Disciplinary Proceedings

Felix Landau (WSBA No. 13151, admitted 1983), of Bellevue, was suspended pending the outcome of disciplinary proceedings, pursuant to ELC 7.1 (Interim Suspension for Conviction of a Crime), effective April 10, 2009, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court. This is not a disciplinary sanction.