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John M. Cooper (WSBA No. 22977, admitted 1993), of Spokane, was disbarred, effective March 29, 2006, by order of the Washington State Supreme Court following a default hearing. This discipline was based on his conduct between 1997 and 1999 in three matters involving multiple acts of misconduct. John M. Cooper is to be distinguished from John M. Cooper of Bainbridge Island and John G. Cooper of Seattle.
Matter 1: In October 1998, Mr. Cooper was hired by a client to probate the estate of her mother. The client paid Mr. Cooper $250 in advance legal fees. Mr. Cooper obtained an order admitting the will to probate and appointing the client as personal representative. The estate, valued at approximately $50,000, included a house that was subject to numerous creditors’ claims. Mr. Cooper advised his client to give him the estate’s bills to pay and to take out a mortgage on the house to raise funds to cover the bills. The client followed Mr. Cooper’s advice and, in December 1998, gave him a cashier’s check for $5,750. Of that amount, $750 was for additional advance legal fees and $5,000 was for Mr. Cooper to pay the estate’s creditors, with any remainder to be refunded to the client. Mr. Cooper deposited the check into his trust account. Over the next month, the client called Mr. Cooper several times; Mr. Cooper repeatedly assured her that everything was fine. After a month, he stopped returning her telephone calls. Between December 1998 and February 1999, the estate’s creditors began approaching the client, stating that their bills had not been paid. During this time, Mr. Cooper withdrew a portion of the client’s funds from his trust account to pay the expenses of other clients and to obtain cash. In February 1999, the client and her husband confronted Mr. Cooper at his home office, where he gave them a trust account check for $3,010 as a partial refund. He also gave to the client a promissory note in the amount of $4,990, with 12 percent interest commencing that day, which represented the remaining $1,990 the client had provided him to pay the creditor’s claims, the $1,000 the client had paid as advance fees, and an additional $2,000. Mr. Cooper never made any payments on the promissory note and never provided the client with an accounting. The client settled the creditors’ claims by herself.
Matter 2: In June 1998, Mr. Cooper was hired by a husband and wife after the wife’s sister suddenly died, leaving two minor children. The children’s father was incarcerated, and the clients sought to petition for custody. The father contested the petition and, in July 1998, a guardian ad litem (GAL) was appointed. Mr. Cooper told the clients not to contact the GAL, but to wait for the GAL to contact them. Between July and December 1998, the clients waited to hear from the GAL. During this time, Mr. Cooper failed to work on the clients’ case, never informed the clients that the GAL had written to him several times requesting to speak with them, and rarely returned the clients’ many phone calls. The GAL eventually told Mr. Cooper that if he did not hear from the clients, he would recommend that the father get custody. Mr. Cooper did not advise the clients about this. In January 1999, the GAL called the clients and asked why they had not contacted him. He told them that a motion brought by the father’s lawyer to dismiss the custody proceeding was scheduled for hearing, and he advised them to attend. Mr. Cooper never informed the clients of this hearing, never filed a response to the motion to dismiss, and arrived late for the hearing. The GAL informed the court of Mr. Cooper’s behavior and explained that there was no cause to dismiss the matter. The clients hired new counsel immediately after the hearing and were awarded custody of the children.
Matter 3: Mr. Cooper represented a client in a criminal trial in January 1997 and subsequently on appeal following a conviction. Mr. Cooper failed to file an appellate brief on the client’s behalf despite several notices from the Court of Appeals and the imposition of terms against Mr. Cooper. In October 1997, the client’s appeal was dismissed. The matter was remanded to Superior Court, which mailed to Mr. Cooper a notice of a hearing to set the client’s jail incoming date. Neither Mr. Cooper nor his client appeared at the hearing. The court issued a warrant and the client was arrested. The court later appointed another lawyer to represent the client.
Mr. Cooper’s conduct violated RPC 1.2(a), requiring a lawyer to abide by a client’s decisions concerning the objectives of representation; 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; RPC 1.5(a), requiring a lawyer’s fees to be reasonable; RPC 1.14(a), requiring all funds of clients be deposited in one or more identifiable interest-bearing trust accounts and no funds belonging to the lawyer or law firm be deposited therein; RPC 1.14(b), requiring a lawyer to promptly notify a client of the receipt of his or her funds, to maintain complete records of client funds and render appropriate accounts regarding them, and to promptly pay or deliver to the client funds that the client is entitled to receive; RPC 1.15(d), requiring a lawyer to take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client’s interests upon termination of representation; RPC 3.2, requiring a lawyer to make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation consistent with the interests of the client; RPC 8.4(b), prohibiting a lawyer from committing a criminal act (here, theft in the first degree) that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; and RPC 8.4(c), prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.
Marsha A. Matsumoto represented the Bar Association. Kenneth S. Kagan represented Mr. Cooper. James P. Spurgetis was the hearing officer. |