Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Md. v. Young

• Decision Date: 31 March 2021
• Docket Number: Misc. Docket AG No. 23, Sept. Term, 2019
• Citation: 248 A.3d 996,473 Md. 94
• Parties: ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND v. Celio Warren YOUNG
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

473 Md. 94

248 A.3d 996

ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND

v.Celio Warren YOUNG

Misc. Docket AG No. 23, Sept. Term, 2019

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

March 31, 2021

Submitted by Michael W. Blow, Jr., Senior Assistant Bar Counsel (Lydia E. Lawless, Bar Counsel, Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland), for Petitioner.

Submitted by Celio Warren Young (Upper Marlboro, MD), for Respondent.

Submitted to: Barbera, C.J., McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Getty, Booth, and Biran, JJ.

Barbera, C.J.

We consider in this attorney grievance matter the conduct of Celio Warren Young, an attorney barred in the District of Columbia but not in Maryland. Notwithstanding that he was not then, nor is now, licensed to practice law in this state, Mr. Young ("Respondent") solicited and undertook representation of Mr. Joseph E. O'Pharrow, III, in a personal injury action and related matters arising from an automobile accident in Prince George's County, Maryland, in which Mr. O'Pharrow was seriously injured. The representation spanned several years. Eventually, Mr. O'Pharrow filed a complaint with the Attorney Grievance Commission, prompting the Commission ("Petitioner"), acting through Bar Counsel, to file in this Court a Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action ("Petition") charging Respondent with having committed numerous violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Respondent was alleged to have violated numerous provisions of the Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct ("MLRPC"): 1.1 (Competence), 1.2(a) (Scope of Representation), 1.3 (Diligence), 1.4(a) and (b) (Communication), 1.5(a) (Fees), 1.8(a) and (h) (Conflict of Interest; Current Clients), 1.15(a) and (c) (Safekeeping Property),¹ 1.16(a) (Declining or Terminating Representation), 5.5(a) and (b) (Unauthorized Practice of Law), 7.3(a) (Direct Contact with Prospective Clients), and 8.4(a), (b), (c), and (d) (Misconduct). The Petition further alleged violations of the Maryland Attorneys’ Rules of Professional Conduct ("MARPC"): 19-308.1(b) (Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters) and 19-308.4(a), (c), and (d) (Misconduct).²

This Court designated the Honorable Lawrence V. Hill, Jr. of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County to serve as the hearing judge. Respondent did not file an answer to the Petition or respond to Bar Counsel's Request for Admission of Facts and Genuineness of Documents, prompting Petitioner to file a Motion for Order of Default. The circuit court granted the motion for order of default on January 16, 2020. There promptly followed a notice informing Respondent of the order of default and his right to file a motion to vacate that order within thirty days after its entry. Respondent did not file such a motion. See Md. Rule 2-613 (b), (c), (d), and (f).

The hearing on the Petition was originally scheduled for February 21, 2020. Soon thereafter, the hearing was continued to July 28, 2020. On that date, a hearing was conducted virtually owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondent did not appear at the hearing or otherwise attempt to provide evidence or argument.

At the hearing, the judge formally deemed admitted and received into evidence Petitioner's requests for admission of facts and genuineness of documents, in accordance with Maryland Rule 2-424(b). On September 8, 2020, the hearing judge filed a Memorandum containing his findings of fact and conclusions of law based upon the averments laid out in the Petition and the deemed admission of facts and genuineness of documents.

On October 13, 2020, Petitioner, through Bar Counsel, filed "Petitioner's Recommendation for Sanction." Petitioner did not except to any of the hearing judge's findings of fact or conclusions of law and recommended disbarment as an appropriate sanction. Respondent filed no paper submission responsive to the hearing judge's factual findings and legal conclusions and in no other fashion took exception to the hearing judge's findings and conclusions.

On November 5, 2020, Bar Counsel filed with this Court a request to waive oral argument. This Court issued a Show Cause Order on November 6, 2020, directing Respondent to show cause by Monday, December 1, 2020 why oral argument should be held. Respondent did not respond to the Show Cause Order on or before the deadline but did file a late response, on December 4, 2020, that did not include a request that oral argument be held.³

In resolving this matter on the record before us, we treat as conclusively established the hearing judge's findings of fact, see Maryland Rules 2-424(b), (d), and 19-741(b)(2)(A), and, upon reviewing de novo the hearing judge's conclusions of law, we conclude, as did the hearing judge, that Respondent committed multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Those violations, coupled with the aggravating factors we have identified, mandate that Respondent be disbarred.

I.The Hearing Judge's Findings of Fact

Respondent was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar on December 6, 1989. He is not, and has never been, a member of the Maryland Bar. At all times relevant to this attorney grievance matter, Respondent maintained an office for the practice of law in the District of Columbia.

Representation of Joseph E. O'Pharrow, III

The violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct with which Respondent was charged originate from his representation of Joseph E. O'Pharrow, III, a Maryland resident. On April 29, 2014, Mr. O'Pharrow was seriously injured in an automobile accident in Prince George's County, Maryland. Mr. O'Pharrow was determined not to be at fault in the accident.

Mr. O'Pharrow suffered extensive injuries resulting from the accident, requiring that he undergo several surgeries. His medical expenses exceeded $100,000. Mr. O'Pharrow spent some time recuperating in the hospital. During that time, his parents, Joseph and Earnestine O'Pharrow ("the O'Pharrows"), stayed with him at the hospital as needed.

Respondent lived next door to Mr. O'Pharrow. Upon learning of the accident, Respondent approached Mr. O'Pharrow’s parents in the hospital and solicited them to represent their son in a personal injury action. Sometime in May 2014, Mr. O'Pharrow’s mother retained Respondent on behalf of her son to represent him on a contingency fee basis. Mr. O'Pharrow agreed to the representation and gave Respondent authorization to communicate with his parents about the case. The hearing judge found that Respondent intentionally misled Mr. O'Pharrow to believe that Respondent was licensed to practice law in Maryland when he was not.

In the summer of 2014, Respondent, evidently with the agreement of at least the O'Pharrows, if not also their son, filed a claim with Government Employees Insurance Company ("GEICO"), the insurance carrier of the driver who was determined to be at-fault in the automobile accident. In or about August 2014, the O'Pharrows accepted the GEICO policy limit of $30,000 as a settlement on behalf of Mr. O'Pharrow.

Respondent received the $30,000 settlement check from GEICO in August 2014 but did not deposit and maintain the settlement funds in an attorney trust account. Of the $30,000, Respondent retained $6,400 for his attorney fees and remitted $23,600 to Mr. O'Pharrow.

Also in the summer of 2014, Respondent filed an underinsured motorist claim with Mr. O'Pharrow’s insurance carrier, Erie Insurance Company ("Erie"). In that filing, Respondent failed to provide to Erie the requisite written notice and a copy of GEICO's prior settlement offer, as is required under Md. Code Insurance Article ("Ins. Art.") § 19-511(b).⁴ As a result, Erie sent Respondent a letter denying Mr. O'Pharrow’s underinsured motorist claim.

Respondent received the denial letter from Erie on or about December 12, 2014. It was not until approximately nine months later—sometime during the fall of 2015—that Respondent informed Mr. O'Pharrow of the denial of the underinsured motorist claim. The hearing judge found that Respondent "knowingly and intentionally misrepresented to Mr. O'Pharrow that Erie's denial of the claim was not a final determination."

The hearing judge further found that Erie's denial of the claim was the "result of [Respondent's] legal malpractice." The hearing judge found, moreover, that throughout the course of his representation of Mr. O'Pharrow, Respondent did not advance his client's cause: he failed to investigate the assets of the driver who was at fault in the automobile accident; he failed to ascertain Mr. O'Pharrow’s underinsured motorist policy coverage; and he failed to negotiate with Mr. O'Pharrow’s healthcare providers.

The Malpractice Action

In May 2016, Respondent offered to settle a malpractice claim that, at the time of the offer, Mr. O'Pharrow either was contemplating filing or had filed. At that time, Respondent should have, but did not, advise Mr. O'Pharrow, in writing, that it would be desirable to seek independent legal advice before agreeing to settle the malpractice claim.

On May 25, 2016, Respondent and Mr. O'Pharrow entered into an Installment Payment Plan Agreement (the "Payment Plan Agreement") to settle the claim. In the Payment Plan Agreement, Respondent agreed to pay Mr. O'Pharrow $44,208.77 in monthly installments of $5,000 until Mr. O'Pharrow was paid in full. The Payment Plan Agreement did not contemplate or include payment for pain and suffering or for medical expenses Mr. O'Pharrow would likely incur in the future.

Respondent further agreed to maintain an additional $10,272.92 in an escrow account in order to negotiate with Mr. O'Pharrow’s healthcare providers a reduction of the amount of the various medical bills he received. Notwithstanding his agreement to do so, Respondent made no attempt to negotiate a reduction of monies Mr. O'Pharrow owed those healthcare providers.

Between July 30, 2016 and October 21, 2016, Respondent made four installment payments to Mr. O'Pharrow for a total of $12,000.00 in the following increments:

...

Date	Amount	Method
July 30, 2016	$2,000.00	Cash
August 2, 2016	$1