Kentucky Bar Ass'n v. Graves
| Decision Date | 19 August 1977 |
| Citation | 556 S.W.2d 890 |
| Parties | KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION, Complainant, v. David C. GRAVES, Jr., Respondent. |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
Leslie G. Whitmer, Director, Kentucky Bar Ass'n, Frankfort, John T. Damron, Asst. Director, Kentucky Bar Ass'n, Frankfort, for complainant.
Michael E. Conover, Harrodsburg, for respondent.
In this disciplinary proceeding, David C. Graves, Jr., a Lexington attorney, is before this court by rule pursuant to RAP 3.410 to show cause why he should not be adjudged guilty of unprofessional conduct and disciplined therefor. Graves filed no response to the rule. However, he filed an answer to the inquiry tribunal's charge and a brief with the Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association.
On May 14, 1977, the Board of Governors considered the pleadings, briefs and exhibits. By a roll call vote, 12 of the 14 members of the board found Graves guilty of unethical and unprofessional conduct calculated to bring the bench and bar into disrepute. On the issue of punishment 12 of the members recommended that Graves be publicly reprimanded and required to pay the costs of this action. Other recommended punishments were a six-month's suspension and a sixty-day suspension.
The conduct complained of concerns the nature and amount of certain charges by Graves against a client's funds which he held in escrow. The pertinent facts are as follows: On January 11, 1975, Glen Church fell from a platform located in the Mansbach Metal Company yard in Ashland, Kentucky. The platform was 60 ft. high, and the fall resulted in serious injuries to Church. These injuries were further complicated by possible negligent first aid rendered at the scene. Church and his wife, Verna Mae, contacted several Ashland attorneys. They were afraid of certain conflicts of interest on the part of Ashland attorneys and decided to employ out-of-town counsel. They contacted Graves and on December 29, 1975, met with him in his Lexington office. During that conference an employment contract was executed. That contract provided that Graves would prosecute a workmen's compensation claim for Glen Church with the fee to be fixed by the Workmen's Compensation Board. Graves was to prosecute other claims on a contingent fee basis by which he would receive 40% of the gross amount recovered, or 50% in the event of any appeal. Graves charged the Churches a retainer fee in the amount of $500.00 which was paid upon execution of the agreement. The contract further provided "ALL NECESSARY COSTS AND EXPENSES of any and all litigations, claims or otherwise, including the necessary expenses involved in connection therewith, shall be borne and paid by the clients (Churches), with the clients depositing the sum of.$1000.00 to be placed in an escrow account, with a monthly accounting being forwarded to said clients and same to be reimbursed monthly."
That same day the Churches deposited.$1000.00 in Graves' escrow account. During the ensuing six months, until June 7, 1976, Graves charged to the escrow account various expenses. These included expenses for secretarial assistance, law clerks, copying, bookkeeping, dinner and travel. The total expenses charged against the escrow account during that six-month period amounted to $3,198.76 which did not include the $500.00 retainer fee. By deposits on February 2nd, February 23rd, and March 8th, the Churches actually deposited in the escrow account a total of $2,840.65 toward the charge of $3,198.76. The record reveals that during this period the Churches received no monetary benefits. Yet, when the escrow account was at low tide, urgent demands were made by Graves to keep the money flowing to swell the tide.
By this time the Churches became suspicious that some of the charges to the escrow account were improper. On June 11, 1976, they filed a complaint with the Kentucky Bar Association. Through its inquiry tribunal, Graves was charged with unprofessional and unethical conduct. In its reply to Graves' motion for a more definite statement, the Kentucky Bar Association listed the following as improper charges:
"1-8-76 Trip to Ashland--Graves, Capillo
Bouvier-----Per diem $ 8.00
1-9-76 New Orleans House--Graves, Van
Devier--Dinner 60.00
1-29-76 Secretary and bookkeeping
expenses 121.00
1-31-76 Hours spent on Church case--
Joe Bouvier 186.75
Hours spent of Church case--Jim Capillo 269.75
2-13-76 Secretarial expenses 279.50
2-27-76 James J. Capillo (clerking and
research) 71.50
2-27-76 Secretarial expenses 65.00
2-27-76 Clerking and research
expenses--Joe Bouvier 60.75
3-26-76 James J. Capillo, Clerking
and research 13.00
secretarial expenses 32.50
Joseph Bouvier--clerking and research 45.00
4-7-76 James J. Capillo--Clerking
and research 6.50
Joseph Bouvier--Clerking and research 13.00
secretarial services 19.50
5-28-76 Secretarial services 26.50
Joseph Bouvier, Clerking and research 97.50
6-1-76
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Abbott ex rel. Estate of Walker v. Chesley
...court costs, investigation, medical examination, obtaining evidence, and the presentation of evidence. See Kentucky Bar Ass'n v. Graves, 556 S.W.2d 890, 891 (Ky.1977). We agree with Appellants that the incorporation of these overhead expenses into the baseline damages calculated by the tria......
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Behanan v. Cobb, No. 2005-CA-002170-MR (Ky. App. 2/2/2007)
...at 434. On remand, the trial court should exclude costs of secretaries, law clerks, and other overhead expenses. See Ky. Bar Ass'n v. Graves, 556 S.W.2d 890, 892 (Ky. 1977). Further, the trial court should exclude fees incurred by Cobb in the collateral administrative proceeding and in the ......
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Jennings, Matter of
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Complaint of J.G.
...the difficult events of the marital dissolution action, we are guided by the policies underlying the decision in Kentucky Bar Association v. Graves, 556 S.W.2d 890 (Ky.1977). Although the conduct there was certainly more egregious, that court was appropriately concerned with the public perc......