Opinion
D.D. No. 23
Decided April 18, 1962.
Attorneys at law — Misconduct — Disciplinary action — Indefinite suspension from practice — Acts warranting.
ON CERTIFIED REPORT by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline.
The relator, the Columbus Bar Association, filed a complaint against respondent, alleging five charges of misconduct: (1) That he violated the Canons of Professional Ethics by receiving money from a client to be delivered by him to specified persons and thereafter commingling such money with his own and using it for his own personal gain; (2) that he committed embezzlement or fraudulent conversion when he converted to his own use money which came into his possession by virtue of his employment as an attorney at law; (3) that he violated the Canons of Professional Ethics when he accepted money from a client for performing certain legal work in connection with the administration of an estate and after entering upon such employment did not complete or perform a substantial part of such employment and has not remitted the money to the client; (4) that he violated the Canons of Professional Ethics by accepting money for the sale of certain real property formerly owned by him and his wife but which had been conveyed to other purchasers prior to the acceptance of such money; and (5) that he violated Section 5301.46, Revised Code, a violation involving moral turpitude, by knowingly selling land or an interest therein, with intent to defraud, without having title to it either in law or equity.
The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline found, as to charges one and two, that respondent received certain money from one Taylor to be delivered to certain other persons and thereafter commingled such money with his own, converted it to his own use and later, after demands, made restitution in cash and by conveyance of real estate; as to charge three, the board found that respondent received a substantial sum to assist in administering an estate but failed to complete administration of the estate, although notified by the Probate Court and requested by the administratrix to do so, and that such conduct constituted a violation of the Canons of Professional Ethics; and, as to charges four and five, the board found that respondent received a sum of money from one Burke as earnest money on a contemplated sale of certain real estate which had previously been conveyed to one Brown, that respondent had an equity of redemption therein and Burke had knowledge of the fact that the real estate was in some way pledged as security for an obligation, that no misrepresentations were made, and that charges four and five are not supported by the evidence, and the board dismissed such charges.
The board concluded that respondent was guilty of misconduct as defined by Section 5 of Rule XXVII of this court and recommended that he be suspended for an indefinite period from the practice of law, subject to reinstatement as provided by Rule XXVII.
No objections to the findings and recommendation of the board were filed by respondent, but the relator filed objections to the recommendation of the board in that respondent should have been disciplined by a permanent disbarment.
Mr. Stanton G. Darling, Mr. S. Noel Melvin, Mr. Charles E. Shanklin and Mr. C. William Malone, for relator.
Mr. Russell P. Finneran, for respondent.
This court, from a consideration of the record, is of the opinion that the board was neither in error nor unreasonable in its recommendation. Therefore, the objections to the recommendation of the board are overruled, the report of the board is confirmed, and judgment is rendered accordingly.
Report confirmed and judgment accordingly.
WEYGANDT, C.J., ZIMMERMAN, TAFT, MATTHIAS, BELL, COLLIER and O'NEILL, JJ., concur.
COLLIER, J., of the Fourth Appellate District, sitting by designation in the place and stead of HERBERT, J.