Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Md. v. Palmer

• Decision Date: 30 November 2010
• Docket Number: Misc. Docket AG No. 49, Sept. Term, 2009.
• Citation: 417 Md. 185,9 A.3d 37
• Parties: ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND v. Christopher Allen PALMER.
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

9 A.3d 37

417 Md. 185

ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND

v.Christopher Allen PALMER.

Misc. Docket AG No. 49, Sept. Term, 2009.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

Nov. 30, 2010.

James P. Botluk, Asst. Bar Counsel (Glenn M. Grossman, Bar Counsel, Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland), for petitioner.

Christopher Allen Palmer, Esquire, of Berlin, Maryland, for respondent.

Argued before BELL, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, MURPHY, ADKINS, and BARBERA, JJ.

HARRELL, J.

The Attorney Grievance Commission ("Petitioner"), acting through Bar Counsel, filed a Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action against Christopher A. Palmer ("Respondent"), charging him with professional misconduct in violating various provisions of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct ("MRPC"), the Maryland Rules, and the Business Occupations & Professions Article of the Maryland Code.Specifically, Petitioner charged that Respondent violated the following Rules of Professional Conduct: 1.1 (competence); ¹ 1.15(a), (c) (safekeeping property); ² 8.4(b), (c), (d); ³ MarylandRule 16-609 (prohibited transactions); ⁴ and Maryland Code (2000, 2010 Repl.Vol.), Business Occupations & Professions Article, § 10-306 (misuse of trust money).⁵ Pursuant to Maryland Rules 16-752(a) ⁶ and 16-757(c),⁷ we referred the case to the Honorable Brett W. Wilson of the Circuit Court for Dorchester County for the conduct of an evidentiary hearing and the preparation of findings of fact and recommended conclusions of law. Judge Wilson conducted the evidentiary hearing on 30 March 2010. He issued his written findings offact and conclusions of law on 6 May 2010. As we cannot envision a better way for the arc of this case to unfold, we intend to flatter Judge Wilson by relating verbatim here his findings and conclusions.

I.Findings of Fact⁸

A. Respondent's Background

Respondent graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law in1998 and was admitted to the Maryland Bar on December 16, 1998. Following graduation, Respondent served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Daniel M. Long, Circuit Court for Somerset County, Maryland, from 1998 until August 1999. Upon the conclusion of his judicial clerkship, Respondent joined the law firm of Ayres, Jenkins, Gordy & Almand, P.A. ("the Firm") in Ocean City, Maryland. Respondent was an associate in the Firm from September 1999 until December 2008. Since leaving the Firm, Respondent has continued to provide legal services as a solo practitioner, focusing his work primarily in the area of family law. Respondent also handles criminal cases as a panel attorney for the Office of the Public Defender.

Respondent married his wife, Stacie, in 2004. The couple has two children, the first born in 2006 and the second born in 2009. In addition to the time Respondent spends with his family, Respondent is also very active in professional and community organizations. Respondent has served on the Board of Directors for Worcester Youth and Family Counseling Services, Inc. since 2000 and became President in September 2008. Respondent has served as Treasurer, Secretary, and, most recently, Vice President of the Worcester County Bar Association. Since 2005, Respondent hasserved as the Circuit Coordinator for the First and Second Circuits of the Maryland State Bar High School Mock Trial Competition. Respondent previously served as the First Circuit Representative in the Young Lawyers Section of the Maryland State Bar Association. Respondent also volunteers in the Circuit Court for Worcester County, conducting settlement conferences in civil cases.

B. Finding of Facts Regarding Respondent's Alleged Misconduct

The facts underlying the alleged violations are undisputed. In anticipation of the evidentiary hearing, Petitioner and Respondent stipulated to certain facts which were reduced to writing and admitted into evidence....

(1) Misuse of Escrow Funds

In 2008, the Firm was considering whether to offer Respondent Partner status. As discussed more fully below, Respondent transferred funds belonging to clients Royalton Motor Hotel, LLC, Garrison Smith, and Dennis Bellehumeur from the Firm's escrow account to the general account and had those funds credited to himself for billing purposes. Respondent made these monetary transfers in order to make it appear that his collected fees were higher than they actually were so as to improve his prospects of being offered a partnership interest in the Firm.

When the Firm discovered Respondent's improper transfer of client funds from the escrow account to the general account, the Firm deposited funds back into the escrow account so that the clients sustained no loss. The Firm adjusted its compensation to Respondent to recover the funds overpaid to him.

(a) Royalton Motor Hotel, LLC v. Pacific Surfwear, Inc., et al.

On July 18, 2007, Respondent obtained a judgment in favor of his client, Royalton Motor Hotel, LLC, in the Circuit Court for Worcester County, Maryland,in case number 23-C06-001305 CN in the amount of $28,781.97.

On August 2, 2007, Respondent received $2,000.00 as partial payment of the judgment in factor of Royalton Motor Hotel, LLC and deposited the money in the Firm's escrow account. Additionally, the Firm received three money orders, each in the amount of $1,000.00, which were received as further payment from the debtor and deposited in the Firm's escrow account on October 16, 2007. The Firm did not immediately disburse the $5,000.00 collected on behalf of Royalton Motor Hotel, LLC to its client. No explanation was provided for the delay.

On June 30, 2008, Respondent disbursed $5,000.00 from the Firm's escrow account and deposited those funds in the Firm's general account. To accomplish this transfer of funds, Respondent wrote escrow check number 17956 payable to the Firm. Respondent referenced an unrelated client file number, ending in the letter "P", which indicated that the funds pertained to a fee earned in a matter involving a client brought to the Firm by Respondent.

At this time, Respondent received an annual salary of $50,000.00. He also received one-third of all fees generated by clients he brought to the Firm. As a result of Respondent's transfer of Royalton Motor Hotel, LLC's $5,000.00 from the Firm's escrow account to its operating account, and his designation of those funds as pertaining to an unrelated client originated by him, Respondent received one-third of the funds ($1,666.50) as part of his compensation from the Firm for June 2008.

After the Firm discovered that Respondent had improperly transferred these funds to the general account, the Firm returned the $5,000.00 to its escrow account, disbursed $4,000.00 to its client, and paid the proper fee of $1,000.00 to the Firm in December 2008. The Firm adjusted its compensation to Respondent to recover the funds overpaid to him.

(b) Garrison Smith and Dennis Bellehumeur v. Daniel Troiano

Respondent also handled a collection case for the Firm's clients, Garrison Smith and Dennis Bellehumeur. He obtaineda judgment in the amount $6,023.68. On June 13, 2008, Respondent received $1,000.00 towards the judgment on behalf of Smith and Bellehumeur. At Respondent's direction, those funds were deposited in the Firm's escrow account. On July 10, 2008, Respondent received additional payment of $500.00 on account of said judgment. The firm deposited these funds in the Firm's general account. On July 31, 2008, Respondent received an additional $1,000.00, which was properly deposited in the Firm's escrow account. On August 21, 2008, Respondent received $500.00 on behalf of Smith and Bellehumeur, which was deposited in the Firm's general account.

On September 30, 2008, Respondent wrote a check drawn on the Firm's escrow account in the amount of $2,000.00, which represented the funds deposited for payment toward judgment on behalf of Smith and Bellehumeur. The check was drawn payable to the Firm and was deposited into the Firm's operating account. The firm was actually entitled to only $550.00 in fees from Smith and Bellehumeur from the funds collected by Respondent. Respondent's one-third share should have been $183.33. As a result of the deposit of the funds belonging to Smith and Bellehumeur into the general account, the Firm paid respondent$999.99 instead of $183.33 to which he was entitled.

(2) Misrepresentations Regarding Filing of Complaints and Fabrication of Court Documents

In addition to misusing clients' money held in escrow, Respondent also failed to adequately represent three clients: Atlantic Pools & Spas, Inc., the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, and the Worcester Preparatory School. As more fully discussed below, with respect to these clients, Respondent drafted complaints which he never filed, misrepresented to partners of the Firm that the complaints had been filed, and, in at least one case, fabricated court documents to support his falsehoods.

The Firm never billed Atlantic Pools & Spas, Inc., the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City, or the WorcesterPreparatory School for work Respondent falsely claimed he had done.

(a) Atlantic Pools & Spas, Inc.

Mark Cropper, a partner in the Firm, assigned Respondent two collections matters to handle for the Firm's client, Atlantic Pools & Spas, Inc. One matter was against Anthony J. Diver and Jacqueline A. Bradley-Diver ("the Divers"). The other matter was against Robert and Sharon Anthony ("the Anthonys"). Respondent falsely told Mr. Cropper that he had filed suit on behalf of Atlantic Pools & Spas, Inc. against the Divers and the Anthonys. Respondent prepared pleadings, which he never filed with the appropriate Court, and fabricated complaints and summonses to support his misrepresentations that suits were initiated.

On or about December 17, 2008, Mr. Cropper checked the Maryland Judiciary website and discovered that no suits had been filed on behalf of Atlantic Pools & Spas, Inc. Mr. Cropper had his assistant, Patricia Corso, send an e-mail to the vacationing Respondent, checking on the status of these

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