Office of Disciplinary Counsel v. Hughes

Full title: OFFICE OF DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL, Petitioner v. EVAN T. L. HUGHES, Respondent

Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Date published: Feb 8, 2023

2923 Disciplinary Docket 3 (Pa. Feb. 8, 2023)

Opinion

2923 Disciplinary Docket 3 40 DB 2022

02-08-2023

OFFICE OF DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL, Petitioner v. EVAN T. L. HUGHES, Respondent

PER CURIAM

Attorney Registration No. 93214 (Philadelphia)

ORDER

PER CURIAM

AND NOW, this 8^th day of February, 2023, upon consideration of the Recommendation of the Three-Member Panel of the Disciplinary Board, the Joint Petition in Support of Discipline on Consent is granted, and Evan T.L. Hughes is suspended on consent from the Bar of this Commonwealth for a period of one year and one day. The suspension is stayed in its entirety, and he is placed on probation for a period of two years, subject to the following conditions:

1. Jose Constantino Campos, Esquire, is appointed to monitor Respondent's management of his law practice;

2. Attorney Campos shall do the following during Respondent's probation:

a. Meet with Respondent every other week either virtually or in person;

b. Obtain a status of each of Respondent's cases and discuss, examine and review each case with Respondent, which will include, inter alia, the type of case, confirmation that each file has a fee agreement and a conflict check was performed, all pending deadlines, all discovery

requests, and all client communications to ensure that Respondent replies timely to clients' requests;

c. Discuss with Respondent any attorney/client concerns, outstanding requests from clients or families, payment status for each case, and scheduling of client meetings/visitations if required;

d. Examine Respondent's law office organization and procedures;

e. Ensure that Respondent has worked on cases in a reasonably prompt and diligent manner; and

f. File quarterly written reports with the Board Prothonotary in which Attorney Campos will include the following:

i. whether he met with Respondent bi-weekly as required and whether those meetings were in-person or remote;

ii. whether Respondent made his case files available for inspection and review;

iii. whether Respondent has abided by the Rules of Professional Conduct;

iv. whether Attorney Campos has any concerns about Respondent's law practice; and

v. the written consent and waivers from each client received during the relevant time period pursuant to Paragraph 4.

3. During the probationary period, Attorney Campos shall have access to all of Respondent's files at all times via a G drive or some other electronic method, except under the restrictions discussed in Paragraph 4.

4. Prior to Attorney Campos having access to Respondent's client files, Respondent shall notify the clients and request written consent and waivers from each individual client permitting Attorney Campos to review their individual files. If a client does not grant consent or does not sign a waiver, Attorney Campos shall not have access to that client's file; however, Respondent shall provide to Attorney Campos a summary of that client's matter without providing any identifying and/or confidential information. All written consent and waivers shall be filed with the Board Prothonotary, as provided in Paragraph 2(f)(v).

5. During the first twelve months of the probationary period, Respondent shall make monthly payments in the amount of $458.33, for a total of $5,500, to Mr. Holder and provide proof to Disciplinary Counsel when each payment is forwarded to Mr. Holder.¹

1 The final payment to be $458.37.

6. Respondent understands and agrees that his conduct during the probationary period must conform with the Rules of Professional Conduct and the Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement.

It is further ordered that Respondent shall pay the costs incurred by the Disciplinary Board in the investigation and prosecution of this matter.