In re Complaint as to the Conduct of Young
In re Complaint as to the Conduct of Young
Opinion of the Court
The Oregon State Bar filed a complaint against William D. Young accusing him of unethical conduct concerning his representation of a client in a United States District Court case. The complaint alleged that Young had failed to file a pre-trial order causing the case to be dismissed. The complaint further alleged that Young’s conduct violated DR 6-101(A)(3) in that he neglected a legal matter entrusted to him and violated DR 7-101 (A) (2) because he intentionally failed to carry out a contract for professional services.
Young filed an answer admitting the allegations of the complaint “except as explained.”
In March, 1983 Young and the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors entered into a Stipulation for Discipline pursuant to Rule of Procedure 37.1(c).
A summary of the stipulation as to the charging facts is as follows: Young was admitted to practice law in Oregon in April, 1977. After his admission he practiced criminal law exclusively in a public defender’s office in Lane County until
The Board of Governors and Young stipulated that the above described conduct was in violation of DR 6-101(A)(3) and DR 7-101(A)(2) of the Code of Professional Responsibility and that Young agreed to accept a public reprimand for the violation.
The stipulation by way of explanation of Young’s conduct contains the following:
“Mr. Etuk * * * gave instructions to the accused which forbid the accused to engage in any negotiations regarding settlement of the case. * * * [Young] found that the more effort he expended to complete the draft, the greater became his anxiety and frustration and the fewer results he was able to obtain. * * * At that time [last deadline] the anxiety, frustration and fear effectively prevented the accused from filing any document with regard to the case. The accused was frozen into inaction by his own inaction.”
Many factors militate in favor of Young and are to his credit. He had several conferences with Etuk explaining his functional inability to prepare the pretrial order. Etuk rejected his suggestion that other counsel be retained. After the complaint was dismissed, Young again suggested to Etuk that other counsel be employed to attempt to have the case reinstated. This time Etuk accepted the suggestion. Young informed Etuk of the possibility of a malpractice action and
The Disciplinary Review Board has reviewed the matter and recommended that this court accept the Stipulation for Discipline.
The court accepts Young’s no contest plea and approves the Stipulation for Discipline.
“DR 6-101 Failing to Act Competently.
“(A) A lawyer shall not:
“(1) Handle a legal matter which he knows or should know that he is not competent to handle, without associating with him a lawyer who is competent to handle it.
«* * * * *
“(3) Neglect a legal matter entrusted to him.”
“DR 7-101 Representing a Client Zealously.
“(A) A lawyer shall not intentionally:
* * * *
“(2) Fail to carry out a contract of employment entered into with a client for professional services, but he may withdraw as permitted under DR 2-110, DR 5-102, and DR 5-105.”
The matters of “explanation” in Young’s answer were later included in the Stipulation for Discipline entered into by Young and the Board of Bar Governors and are quoted at page 2 of the slip opinion.
The stipulation states that Etuk obtained other counsel who was successful in having the case reinstated and settled prior to trial.
The facts in this paragraphs are taken from the stipulation.
We approve the Stipulation for Discipline as appropriate to the stipulated facts, even though we have some doubt that a violation of DR 7-101(A)(2) has been shown. Possibly Young should have been charged under DR 6-101(A)(1) with handling a legal matter that he knew or should have known to be beyond his competence rather than under DR 7-101 (A) (2). See n. 1, supra.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- In Re: Complaint as to the Conduct of WILLIAM D. YOUNG, Accused
- Status
- Published