Matter of Shaw, 50289.
| Decision Date | 24 October 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 50289.,50289. |
| Citation | 298 NW 2d 133 |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Application for the Discipline of Irving SHAW, an Attorney at Law of the State of Minnesota. |
| Court | Minnesota Supreme Court |
Michael J. Hoover, Administrative Director on Professional Conduct, and Richard C. Baker, Staff Atty., Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, St. Paul, for petitioner.
Larkin, Hoffman, Daly & Lindgren, James P. Miley and Thomas J. Flynn, Minneapolis, for respondent.
Heard, considered, and decided by the court en banc.
The Professional Responsibility Board has brought this disciplinary action against respondent, Irving Shaw, an attorney at law, charging him with professional misconduct involving commingling and conversion of client funds, failure to maintain a separate trust account, and false certification in connection with his annual license renewal that his books and records were in compliance with DR 9-103.
The findings of fact made by the referee, the Honorable Ben Gussendorf, are adopted by this court. Judge Gussendorf's findings may be summarized as follows. Respondent was admitted to the bar in 1951 and currently practices in St. Paul. In 1978, respondent was retained to represent Barbara Jean (Barrera) Duerscherl in a marriage dissolution proceeding. On March 5, 1979, pursuant to his client's divorce settlement stipulation, respondent received $10,000, which was to be held in an escrow account and paid to his client at the time final judgment was entered. The funds were not placed in a separate account, however, but, rather, were deposited in respondent's law office account, which combined personal and business monies. Numerous checks were drawn by respondent against his client's funds.
Judgment in the divorce proceeding was entered on April 19, 1979. After his client made inquiries concerning her funds, respondent paid his client $5,000. The remaining portion of the settlement was paid to his client on May 18, 1979.
The record establishes that, since at least 1975, respondent has failed to maintain a separate fiduciary account for client funds and has failed to keep adequate books and records. Also, he has not maintained subsidiary ledgers revealing funds held on behalf of clients nor has he made periodic reconciliations of books and records. In addition, respondent falsely certified in connection with his license renewal that his records were in compliance with DR 9-103.
The referee recommended that respondent should be censured and placed on supervised probation for 3 years.
The Minnesota Code of Professional Responsibility provides that client funds must be placed in a separate trust account and must not be commingled with an attorney's personal and business monies. DR 9-102(A). Lawyers engaged in the private practice of law must certify, in connection with their annual renewals of...
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