 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Attorney Grievance Commission v. Pennington7/28/1999
I.
The Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland (the "Commission"), by Bar Counsel, acting pursuant to Maryland Rule 16-709, filed a Petition for Disciplinary Action against Jill Johnson Pennington (the "Respondent"), alleging that she did engage in misconduct. In the Petition, the respondent was charged with violating Rules 1.5, 1.8 and 8.4, of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct. The Petition was referred, pursuant to Maryland Rule 16-711(a), to the Hon. William B. Spellbring, of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County, for hearing and to make findings of fact and Conclusions of law.
a.
Following a hearing, the filing of post-trial briefs, and reargument, the hearing court, as required, determined the facts, as follows:
"The respondent ... is a lawyer, having graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School in June of 1981 and initially becoming a member of the bar of the District of Columbia before her admission to the bar of the Court of Appeals ... on June 9, 1989."
"Ms. Jeter felt that her employer[ ] had discriminated against her for failing to move her from a sales position to a management position. On October 10, 1992, Ms. Jeter and Ms. Pennington executed a retainer agreement...."
"In that retainer agreement, Ms. Pennington became the attorney for Ms. Jeter for any and all employment discrimination claims by Ms. Jeter against Foot Locker. Prior to retaining Ms. Pennington, Ms. Jeter had consulted with another attorney but did not retain that attorney because of the retainer fee which the attorney requested and which Ms. Jeter was unable to pay."
"On October 16, 1992, Ms. Pennington wrote a check in the amount of $1,000 .... That check was payable to Anita Jeter and was a loan to Ms. Jeter. The check was cashed by Ms. Jeter and the proceeds were used for her own personal use, other than for litigation expenses."
"In December of 1992, Ms. Pennington filed suit on behalf of Ms. Jeter against Foot Locker. On April 30, 1993, Ms. Pennington wrote a check in the amount of $350 ...."
"This April 30th check was also made payable to Anita Jeter and was a second loan. Ms. Jeter also cashed this $350 check and used the proceeds for her own personal use, other than litigation expenses. There was no agreement made at the time of either loan as to when or how those loans were to be repaid to Ms. Pennington by Ms. Jeter."
"Although Ms. Jeter sought compensation for the discrimination by her employer, her principal objective with that employer was to move from a sales position to a management position. In March of 1994, she was given a Kid Foot Locker store to manage. On June 15, 1994, while appearing before the magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for Maryland, Ms. Pennington and counsel for Foot Locker reached an agreement to settle the lawsuit and that agreement was approved by and acceptable to Ms. Jeter."
"The settlement consisted of a payment of $25,000 by Foot Locker to resolve the lawsuit. A statement of settlement dated July 23, 1994, identifying the disbursement of the $25,000 was signed and received by Ms. Jeter...."
"Ms. Jeter received a check in the amount of $5318.83 as the proceeds due her from the settlement. Ms. Pennington received an attorney fee of $15,000 from the settlement, the remainder of the settlement proceeds paid expenses and the personal loans to Ms. Jeter from Ms. Pennington. Ms. Pennington recorded 144.4 hours consisting of consultation with her client, the drafting of pleadings, discovery proceedings and court proceedings in her representation of Ms. Jeter."
"Subsequent to
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Maryland Employee Leasing Services
Employee Leasing Services
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Employee Leasing Services in your area.
|
|