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In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against Edinger7/28/2005
The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility made inquiries concerning a series of overdrafts from the trust account of attorney Richard Edward Edinger. When Edinger failed to timely respond to those inquiries and then responded minimally, the Director began a formal disciplinary investigation. During that investigation, Edinger made a series of false statements concerning the nature of the funds deposited in his trust account and why the overdrafts occurred. The Director filed a petition for disciplinary action, alleging both trust account violations and non-cooperation with the investigation. Edinger waived a panel proceeding. A referee was appointed and, after a hearing, recommended that Edinger be suspended for 3 months. The Director disagreed with the referee's recommendation and requested this court's review. We accept the referee's recommendation and determine that Edinger has committed serious misconduct warranting indefinite suspension from the practice of law, with no right to apply for reinstatement for at least 3 months.
Edinger was admitted to practice in Minnesota on May 10, 1996, and also admitted to practice in North Dakota in October 1996. Edinger practices in the Fargo-Moorhead area and focuses his practice on family law and contract public defender work for Cass County, North Dakota.
On January 14, 2002, the Director received a notice pursuant to Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 1.15(j)-(o) that Edinger's trust account was overdrawn on January 4, 2002. The Director wrote to Edinger on January 15 requesting an explanation for the overdraft and certain documents related to the trust account. Edinger contacted the Director on January 16 to give notice that his trust account was again overdrawn and to request that the Director mail him a copy of the informational trust account brochure. Edinger did not respond to the Director's January 15 letter. On January 23, the Director received a notice that confirmed a January 15 overdraft on Edinger's trust account.
The Director mailed a second letter on February 8, 2002, to Edinger requesting that he explain the January 4 overdraft. The Director received a fax from Edinger stating that Edinger had mailed his response that same day, but Edinger had not done so. On February 15 and 16, Edinger sent two faxes to the Director containing his explanation for the January 4 overdraft and supporting documentation. Edinger informed the Director that the January 4 overdraft resulted from a delay in depositing a $650 retainer check from a client, W.R. Edinger included a handwritten client subsidiary ledger documenting W.R.'s payment of the retainer. He also explained that the January 15 overdraft was caused by an inadvertent delay in depositing an $840 payment from W.R. for the hiring of an expert witness.
The Director received another notice that Edinger's trust account was overdrawn on April 15, 2002. The Director wrote to Edinger on April 22 requesting an explanation for the April 15 overdraft and supporting documents, including Edinger's trust account bank statements and client subsidiary ledgers from February through April 2002. By early May 2002, the Director had not received a response from Edinger and the Director sent Edinger a follow-up request on May 13. Edinger responded to the Director's request by fax on May 28. The Director also received Edinger's response by mail on June 7, 2002, but the response was incomplete because it included only Edinger's April 2002 trust account bank statement. Edinger attributed the April 15 overdraft to the deposit of a check from a client, P.B., that was returned for insufficient funds after Edinger had made expenditures related to P.B.'s case. Edinger included w
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