Attorney Grievance Commission v. Leventhal

ORDER This Court having considered the recommendation of the panel of judges designated to sit in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County and the record filed in the above entitled matter, and no exceptions having been filed to the recommendation, it is this 7th day of February, 1977 ORDERED, by the Court of Appeals of Maryland, that the recommendation be adopted and that Phillip Leventhal be, and he is hereby, suspended from the further practice of law in the State of Maryland for a period of six months, beginning March 9, 1977; and it is further ORDERED that the clerk of this Court shall strike the name of Phillip Leventhal from the register of attorneys in this Court and certify that fact to the Trustees of the ³⁵¹ Clients’ Security Trust Fund and the clerks of all judicial tribunals in the State in accordance with Rule BV13. Filed: February 7, 1977 /s/ James H. Norris, Jr. Clerk Court of Appeals of Maryland /s/ Robert C. Murphy /s/ Frederick J. Singley, Jr. /s/ Marvin H. Smith_ /s/ J. Dudley Digges /s/ Irving A. Levine_ /s/ John C. Eldridge_ /s/ Charles E. Orth, Jr. RECOMMENDATION FOR DISPOSITION OF CHARGES The respondent, Phillip Leventhal, a member of the Bar of the Court of Appeals, appeared before the undersigned on November 12, 1976, for a hearing on the Amended Petition for Disciplinary Action of the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland. The respondent was charged specifically with having violated the following disciplinary rules of the Code of Professional Responsibility, Rule 1230, Appendix F, Maryland Rules of Procedure: DR 1-102(A)(4), which states that a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation. DR 2-106(A), which states that a lawyer shall not enter into an agreement for, charge, or collect an illegal or clearly excessive fee.

DR 7-102(A)(6), which states that in representing a client a lawyer shall not participate in the creation or preservation of evidence when he knows or it is obvious that the evidence is false. DR 9-102(B)(4), which states that a lawyer shall promptly pay or deliver to the client the funds, securities, or other properties in the possession of the lawyer wíiich the client is entitled to receive. ³⁵² Briefly, the respondent is alleged, in December, 1974, to have unjustifiably retained a three hundred dollar fee after he had been discharged by the client. In his Answer, respondent admits depositing “for collection a retainer check of a prospective client in the amount of three hundred dollars after he should have known, by virtue of communication with the client, that the client had not authorized him to proceed with legal work on her behalf”. He denies, however, in his Answer that he fabricated justification for keeping the three hundred dollars and that he lied under oath to an inquiry panel of the Attorney Grievance Commission, as alleged in the Petition.

The Panel heard the testimony of Mrs. Deborah Drudge, a former associate who originally interviewed the client. The Panel also heard the testimony of the respondent. He admitted having been reprimanded in 1973 by the Bar Association of Montgomery County for having charged a client a fee in excess of what had been agreed upon. Copy of the reprimand was admitted in these proceedings as petitioner’s exhibit 2.

The Panel also admitted into evidence respondent’s exhibits 3 and 4, which are letters of gratitude from clients who were pleased with services rendered to them by respondent in matters separate from this inquiry. This Panel also heard the testimony of a client of the respondent’s who spoke highly of him. In addition, the respondent called Charles Foster, a practicing attorney in Montgomery County, who testified that he, at the request of respondent, had advised him generally on the handling of client’s funds and on the proper way to conduct his law practice. The respondent himself testified he had enrolled as a student in a course titled “Professional Responsibility” at the University of Baltimore School of Law.

The Panel accepted as part of the record a letter from William I. Weston, Assistant Dean