Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Md. v. Stinson

• Decision Date: 21 August 2012
• Docket Number: Misc. Docket AG Nos. AG 30 and 70,Sept. Term, 2009.
• Citation: 428 Md. 147,50 A.3d 1222
• Parties: ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND v. Katrice Selena STINSON.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

428 Md. 147

50 A.3d 1222

ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND

v.Katrice Selena STINSON.

Misc. Docket AG Nos. AG 30 and 70, Sept. Term, 2009.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Aug. 21, 2012.

Raymond A. Hein, Deputy Bar Counsel (Glenn M. Grossman, Bar Counsel, Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland), for petitioner.

Katrice Selena Stinson, Washington, DC, for respondent.

Argued before BELL, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, MURPHY, ^*BARBERA and JOHN C. ELDRIDGE (Retired, Specially Assigned), JJ.

PER CURIAM.

Pursuant to Maryland Rule 16–751,¹ the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland (“Petitioner”), acting through Bar Counsel, filed a Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action against Katrice Selena Stinson (“Respondent”), a Maryland attorney who alleged she had offices in the State. Petitioner charged that Stinson committed professional misconduct arising out of the fees she charged to two clients, Dr. Rose Merchant and Kara McIntosh. Based on Respondent's conduct in the Merchant complaint, Petitioner charged Respondent with violating Rules 1.4 (Communication),² 1.5 (Fees), ³ 1.15 (Safekeeping Property),⁴ 1.16 (Declining of Terminating Representation), ⁵ 7.5 (Firm Names and Letterheads), ⁶ 8.1 (Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters),⁷ and 8.4 (Misconduct) ⁸of the Maryland Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct (“MLRPC”). As a result of the McIntosh complaint, Petitioner charged Respondent with violating Rules 1.5, 1.15, 1.16, 7.5, and 8.4. In accordance with Maryland Rule 16–752(a)⁹ and 16–757(c), ¹⁰ we referred both matters to the Honorable MicheleD. Jaklitsch of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County to conduct evidentiary hearings and to submit to this Court proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law for each complaint. For the Merchant complaint, Judge Jaklitsch heard evidence over a 2–day period and filed a 25–page opinion in which she made detailed findings of fact and conclusions of law, culminating in a determination that Respondent violated Rules 1.4(b); 1.5(a) and (b); 1.15(a) and (c); 1.16(d); 7.5(b); 8.1(b) and 8.4(c). For the McIntosh complaint, Judge Jaklitsch conducted a two-day evidentiary hearing and filed a 21–page opinion in which she concluded that Respondent violated Rules 1.5(a); 1.15(a), (c) and (d); 1.16(d); 7.5(b) and 8.4(a). Respondent filed written exceptions to the hearing judge's findings of fact and conclusions of law in both cases. Bar counsel filed no exceptions in either case.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Merchant Complaint

Respondent was admitted to practice law in Maryland on December 16, 1999 and is a solo practitioner who is not admitted to any other state Bar or to any Federal Bar. From June 2008 to the time of her deposition by Bar Counsel on April 28, 2010, Respondent did not maintain an attorney trust account.

On June 3, 2008, Dr. Rose Merchant (“Merchant”) contacted Respondent regarding possible legal representation for two matters. The first involved a potential wrongful termination claim against her former employer, Prince George's County Department of Corrections. The second involved a possible wrongful arrest claim against Fairfax County, Virginia. During their initial telephone conversation, Respondent and Merchant agreed to meet the next day, June 4, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at Merchant's home. Respondent informed Merchant that this, in person meeting, would be a free initial consultation.

The first one and a half to two hours of the June 4, 2008 consultation focused on Merchant's two possible lawsuits. The topic of their meeting eventually shifted to discussion of Merchant's marriage to Raphael Desmond Clark, however. Respondent and Merchant discussed the possibility of ending Merchant's marriage to Clark. The consultation started around 11:00 a.m., but around 8:00 p.m., Clark returned home from work. At that time, Respondent instructed Merchant that she would need to pay $7,000.00 “for an engagement and retainer fee.” Respondent did not provide Merchant with a written fee agreement at that time and did not explain the basis of this fee. Before she left the consultation, Merchant presented Respondent with a $7,000.00 check. After leaving Merchant's home, Respondent deposited the $7,000.00 check via an ATM into a Bank of America account. The account was not an attorney trust account, and at no point was Merchant's $7,000.00 held in an attorney trust account.

Following the June 4 consultation, Merchant testified that she believed that Respondent was going to provide representation for the employment law matter against Prince George's County and for a possible divorce or annulment of her marriage. Merchant also understood after the meeting that Respondent would not be providing representation for the wrongful arrest matter. The parties agreed to meet the next day, June 5, 2008, so that Respondent could assist Merchant with filing for a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) against her husband.

On June 5, 2008, Respondent and Merchant met at the Courthouse in Upper Marlboro. Respondent was late to this meeting and was focused on other matters when she did arrive to the courthouse. It was not until 4:30 p.m. that Respondent met with Merchant. By that time, it was too late that day to file the TRO or the divorce/annulment complaint because the courthouse was closing. Respondent and Merchant moved the meeting to a restaurant near the courthouse and discussed some legal issues as well as non-legal matters. The meeting at the restaurant concluded after about two hours. Respondent did not provide a written fee agreement for Merchant or inform Merchant about the basis of her fee during this second in-person meeting.

On June 6, 2008, Respondent and Merchant talked on the phone and exchanged e-mails about topics related to Merchant's husband. Merchant was concerned that Clark might have submitted fraudulent credit applications when purchasing two BMWs in both their names. Respondent drafted a letter to the BMW dealership which stated that Merchant desired to rescind the contracts for purchase of the vehicles. Another letter was drafted to Clark to advise him that the contracts were being rescinded and he needed to deliver the car back to the BMW dealership. The next day, June 7, 2008, Merchant called Respondent to inform her that the dealership was not going to accept possession of the BMW. The hearing judge noted that this conversation between the parties “was terse and limited only to the return of the vehicle.”

On June 9, 2008, Merchant called Respondent to inquire about a written fee agreement. The parties agreed to meet that day at a restaurant in Bethesda, Maryland. At this meeting, Respondent provided Merchant with an “Engagement Fee Agreement,” a client intake form, and a blank EEOC form. Merchant initialed each page of the fee agreement and signed the last page. The Engagement Fee Agreement provides in part: “An engagement fee is a nonrefundable fee paid by the Client for the Attorney's: (1) willingness to provide legal advice and services to the Client; (2) ensuring her availability to the Client; and (3) willingness and availability to represent the Client, for reasonable fees, in transactions and litigation.”

During the two to three hour meeting on June 9, 2008, Merchant filled out the EEOC form while Respondent drafted a Complaint for Annulment. Although Merchant thought that Respondent was going to provide representation for the annulment matter, Respondent informed her that she would not enter her appearance as counsel and that Merchant would have to file the Complaint pro se.

On June 12, 2008, Merchant went to the Circuit Court for Prince George's County intending to file the pro se Complaint for Annulment. Prior to filing the Complaint, however, she met with an attorney at the legal services clinic at the courthouse and decided not to file the complaint. Merchant later spoke to another attorney about her legal issues. After these two conversations, Merchant decided she would terminate her attorney-client relationship with Respondent.

Merchant called Respondent on June 13, 2008, to terminate the relationship and to request a refund of at least $5,000.00. Respondent stated that she would not provide any refund because the $5,000.00 was non-refundable and the $2,000.00 retainer had already been spent on billable hours. Respondent also informed Merchant during this conversation that additional money was owed based on the billable hours that Respondent had already spent on Merchant's cases. According to Respondent, she was terminating the relationship because Merchant was not trustworthy and had “gone behind her back to seek other counsel.”

Respondent drafted a letter dated June 13, 2008, to notify Merchant that she was terminating the Engagement Fee Agreement. Respondent enclosed a “LEGAL SERVICES BILLING SUMMARY” with the letter.

Respondent's billing summary contained charges for 39.5 billable hours for the period June 5 through June 13 at the rate of $335.00 per hour. Respondent claimed that Merchant owed a balance of $11,257.50 after crediting the $2,000.00 retainer. Respondent's billing included 10.0 hours for the “Intake Meeting” on June 4, 2008. This was the initial meeting between the parties that Respondent stated would be a free consultation. The “Client Meetings/Conferences” section of the billing summary also contained a 7.5 hour “Document Prep & Review Mtg.” charge for the June 9 meeting that lasted only 2 to 3 hours. The “Document Preparation and Review” portion of the billing summary contained line items for the Pro–Se Annulment Complaint and the EEOC Charging Document. Respondent billed 1.5 hours for preparationof the EEOC document, notwithstanding that this was a pre-printed form where Merchant filled in the blanks.

Merchant sent a letter dated June 17, 2008, to Respondent to confirm her desire to terminate the attorney-client relationship. Merchant also confirmed her June 13 request for a refund of the $5,000.00 fee. Merchant...