PCB 75

[09-Sep-1994]


                             STATE OF VERMONT

                        PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT BOARD


In re:  PCB File No. 93.38


                            NOTICE OF DECISION

                             DECISION NO.  75

This disciplinary matter regarding irregularities in an attorney's trust
account was submitted to us by Bar Counsel and Respondent on stipulated
facts.  We accept the stipulation and impose a private admonition.

Findings and Conclusions

Upon inquiry from bar counsel as to the reasons for a minor overdraft in his
attorney trust account, Respondent examined his IOLTA account over the
previous several months.  He realized that he had not kept a running balance
in the ledger of the account.  The account had historically had a surplus
balance due in large part to the many title insurance premiums that had been
deposited into the account.  

Just prior to incurring the overdraft, Respondent had caught up on his final
title reports and disbursed almost all of the premiums held in escrow.  Due
to the reduced balance, an overdraft occurred when a check on some other
matter was presented for payment.

Upon further review of the account, Respondent discovered that the bank had
been assessing bank charges for the past three years.  Since he had not been
reconciling the monthly statements, he had not transferred any money from his
operating account to cover the service fees.

Finally, Respondent discovered several arithmetic errors in the account which
led him to believe there was more in the account than there really was.

DR 9-102(B)(3) requires an attorney to "[m]aintain complete records of all
funds...coming into the possession of the lawyer and render appropriate
accounts to the client regarding them."

DR 9-102(C) mandates the account maintenance and client notification systems.

In not maintaining proper records of the disbursements of funds from his
trust account and, thereby, permitting monies held in escrow to pay for the
office obligation of bank charges, Respondent violated these two disciplinary
rules.

Sanction

The applicable ABA Standard for Imposing Lawyer Discipline, Section 4.14,
provides that, absent aggravating or mitigating circumstances, a private
"[a]dmonition is generally appropriate when a lawyer is negligent in dealing
with client property and causes little or no actual or potential injury to a
client."	

Respondent should have paid more attention to the integrity of his attorney
trust account; however, his neglect caused no actual injury.  This is the
first time Respondent has been disciplined in his over 25 years as a member
of the Vermont Bar.  He has taken steps to rectify this problem by commiting
to reconciling his monthly IOLTA account immediately upon receipt.  We see no
likelihood of repeated misconduct.

Accordingly, the Chair is directed to issue a private letter of admonition to
Respondent.

Dated at Montpelier, Vermont this   9th   day of September, 1994.

                        PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT BOARD

								
/s/
Deborah S. Banse, Chair



/s/               	  		/s/                
George Crosby				Donald Marsh



/s/                         	        /s/               
Joseph F. Cahill, Esq.          	Karen Miller, Esq.



/s/                
Nancy Corsones, Esq.			J. Garvan Murtha, Esq.



/s/                           	                            
Paul S. Ferber, Esq.  			Robert F. O'Neill, Esq.     
                

Nancy Foster				Ruth Stokes


Rosalyn L. Hunneman			Jane Woodruff, Esq.

	

/s/                 
Robert P. Keiner, Esq.			Edward Zuccaro, Esq.









wsc/93.38fnl