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In re Thomas11/12/1999
NA that he had received the draft, or that he had deposited the draft in the escrow account without INA's endorsement. INA again requested information on Holmes' unpaid medical bills. Attorney Thomas did not respond.
On May 8, 1991, Attorney Thomas' escrow account had a balance of $12,947.56. Subsequently, Attorney Thomas wrote checks to himself, his employee, and others. On July 18, 1991, the account had a balance of $103.55. Holmes, however, had not received from Attorney Thomas any disbursement of funds relating to her settlement with Hilton.
In 1992, Holmes retained another attorney, Mark Schaffer, to represent her in an unrelated workers' compensation claim against her employer involving carpal tunnel syndrome. Holmes expressed her concern to Attorney Schaffer over the status of her settlement with Hilton, and that she could not receive a satisfactory explanation from Attorney Thomas. Schaffer made repeated attempts to learn from Thomas about the settlement. Thomas offered no explanation to Schaffer. In May 1993, Holmes filed a complaint with the Bar concerning Attorney Thomas' handling of her settlement with Hilton.
Subsequently, on December 3, 1993, Attorney Thomas deposited $8,093 into his clients' escrow account, which raised the balance to $8,112.36. On December 6, 1993, Attorney Thomas sent to his client, Holmes, a "revised settlement statement," which proposed a distribution of the Hilton settlement funds that differed from the distribution Thomas proposed on February 14, 1991. Under this new proposal, CIGNA/INA would receive $2,272.85 from the Hilton settlement. This correspondence was accompanied by a photocopy of a check from Thomas made payable to CIGNA/INA. But Attorney Thomas never actually forwarded the check to INA. Rather, he kept the money as his own attorney's fee in this matter.
The Board concluded that during this time, Attorney Thomas engaged in commingling of his personal funds with his clients' funds. In August 1991, Attorney Thomas received a settlement for a personal injury claim of his own and unrelated to his representation of Holmes. Attorney Thomas received a check for $8,822 from State Farm Insurance Company made payable solely to Thomas, and deposited it into his clients' escrow account.
Bar Counsel charged Attorney Thomas with six violations of the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct: commingling (Rule 1.15 (a)), misappropriation (Rule 1.15 (b)), failing to notify a third party promptly of the receipt of funds in which the third party has an interest (Rule 1.15 (b)), failing to keep client reasonably informed (Rule 1.4 (a)), engaging in acts of dishonesty (Rule 8.4 (c)), and engaging in conduct seriously interfering with the administration of Justice (Rule 8.4 (d)). Bar Counsel chose not to pursue the latter violation of Rule 8.4 (d).
Hearing Committee Number Five ("the Committee") found Attorney Thomas had engaged in commingling and misappropriation, failed to keep his client reasonably informed, and had engaged in acts of dishonesty. The Committee recommended disbarrment. Attorney Thomas filed an exception to the Committee's Report and Recommendation. Bar Counsel filed a limited exception to the Committee's report, challenging the Committee's finding that the evidence was insufficient to show Attorney Thomas had failed to notify a third party of the receipt of funds in which it had an interest.
The Board issued its Report and Recommendation on May 7, 1998. The Board found that Attorney Thomas had engaged in misappropriation, commingling, and dishonesty. In addition, the Board found that Attorney Thomas had failed to keep his client reasonably informed, and had failed to not
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