Washington Immigration Lawyer Disbarred; Former Clients Receive Nearly $90,000 from the Washington State Bar Association Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection

Seattle Washington, September 30, 2004 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that WSBA member Michael Johnson-Ortiz of Seattle was disbarred by order of the Washington State Supreme Court effective September 15, 2004, for abandoning his practice, and that the WSBA Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection (LFCP) has authorized payment of $89,440.31 to clients of Mr. Johnson-Ortiz who suffered financial loss as a result of Mr. Johnson-Ortiz's dishonesty.

Mr. Johnson-Ortiz maintained a high-volume practice chiefly in the area of immigration. In December 2003, Johnson-Ortiz announced that he was going on vacation to Chile, and would return in early February. After he left on vacation, his staff learned that he had shipped all of his belongings, including his car, to Chile; that the firm operating account was overdrawn by about $5,000 and there was no provision to pay staff salaries in his absence; and that Mr. Johnson-Ortiz had before he left informed his landlord that he would be vacating his offices within 30 days. Members of Mr. Johnson-Ortiz's staff contacted the WSBA.

The Washington Rules for the Enforcement of Lawyer Conduct provide that when a lawyer abandons his practice, a custodian can be appointed in order to protect clients' interests. The WSBA promptly hired a full-time lawyer on a temporary basis to serve as custodian. The lawyer hired by the WSBA reviewed Mr. Johnson-Ortiz's files and contacted all his clients, meeting with many in person. This particular case was a high priority; several hundred clients had matters still in progress, many with important time-sensitive matters.

Mr. Johnson-Ortiz's former clients who needed a lawyer were referred to the King County Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service. Additionally, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the local chapter of the National Immigration Lawyers Association stepped in to provide assistance where they could.

Mr. Johnson-Ortiz's clients who lost money because of his dishonesty or improper handling of their funds were encouraged to apply to the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. Because of the large number of applications, and because many were Spanish-speaking, the WSBA employed a temporary investigator who was a law graduate from the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina. Based on his investigations, the LFCP Committee reviewed 97 applications to the LFCP and approved 60 for payment. Details regarding individual applications are published in the LFCP's 2004 Annual Report.

About the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection
The LFCP was established by the Washington State Bar Association and the Washington Supreme Court in 1994, by the adoption of Washington State Court Admission to Practice Rule (APR) 15. The purpose of the LFCP is to make compensatory gifts to persons in those rare cases where clients suffer a direct financial loss as a result of the dishonest conduct of a lawyer in connection with the practice of law. No tax dollars are used. Under APR 15, the LFCP is maintained by a $13 assessment on each of the approximately 24,600 active members of the WSBA. Prior to the adoption of APR 15, the WSBA voluntarily maintained a clients' security or indemnity fund since 1960.

In addition to the payments made to Mr. Johnson-Ortiz's clients, the LFCP made paid out $224,280.98 to 24 clients of 16 lawyers in fiscal year 2003-2004, for a total payout of $313,721.29. Since 1960, the lawyers of the state of Washington have given more than $2.2 million to the victims of the few dishonest lawyers in this state.

The 2003-2004 chair of the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection Committee was Seattle attorney Wilda Heard; the 2004-2005 chair will be Olympia attorney Jim Connolly. The staff liaison is WSBA General Counsel Robert Welden. For more information about the LFCP, visit www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/lawyersfund.

About the WSBA
The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 28,400 lawyers. The WSBA both regulates lawyers under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association—all without public funding.

As a regulatory agency, it administers the bar exam, provides record-keeping and licensing functions, and administers the lawyer discipline program. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, and numerous other educational and member-service activities.

The governance of the WSBA is vested in its 14-person Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large members, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The president is Ronald R. Ward of Seattle. The board meets every six weeks at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the WSBA is carried out through its 23 standing committees, 23 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division.

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