People v. Bugg, 80SA237
| Decision Date | 08 September 1980 |
| Docket Number | No. 80SA237,80SA237 |
| Citation | 616 P.2d 133,200 Colo. 512 |
| Parties | The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado, Complainant, v. Gordon E. BUGG, Attorney-Respondent. |
| Court | Colorado Supreme Court |
Linda Donnelly, Disciplinary Prosecutor, Denver, for complainant.
Gordon E. Bugg, pro se.
This disciplinary proceeding against Gordon E. Bugg (respondent) was resolved by the Grievance Committee on stipulated facts. The Grievance Committee recommended a six-month suspension with the right to automatic reinstatement at the expiration of that period. We approve the recommendation and suspend the respondent for six months from the issuance of this opinion. We also order the respondent to pay the costs incurred.
The respondent was admitted as a member of the bar of this Court on October 3, 1967. He has no previous record of professional misconduct except for a letter of admonition in 1976. In a stipulation he has admitted violations of the Code of Professional Responsibility and a breach of his professional duties to this Court. He asserted mitigating circumstances before the Grievance Committee which it accepted as having some impact on the respondent's misconduct.
In this case, the respondent was guilty of two serious derelictions of duty in handling the affairs of two separate clients. The respondent failed to process an estate for four years, and no justification exists for his neglect of client's work. The respondent also failed to communicate with his clients, causing his clients great inconvenience and unwarranted travel expenses to determine the status of the estate.
The most severe criticism leveled at the respondent concerns his failure to file a quiet title action. He represented to his client that a quiet title action had been filed, when in fact, no action had been filed. He then told his client that the court had cleared the title, when the title contained a flaw and was clouded by a quitclaim deed. The respondent intended to mislead his client and to cause the client to believe that work was done which was neglected and ignored. Moreover, the respondent's failure to complete the quiet title action prevented the property from being sold.
The only mitigating factors brought to our attention relate to the respondent's family problems at the time that his clients were neglected. The respondent was burdened with his daughter's medical problems. Moreover, his wife, who served as his secretary, eventually divorced the respondent. His...
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People v. Kendrick
...complaints before us. A lawyer owes an obligation to his client to act with diligence in handling his clients' legal work. People v. Bugg, Colo., 616 P.2d 133 (1980). In our view, the respondent has intentionally and consistently abused the high ethical principles upon which the legal profe......
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People v. Smith
...(neglect of entrusted legal matter and failure to carry out contract of employment warrants six-month suspension); People v. Bugg, 200 Colo. 512, 616 P.2d 133 (1980) (failure to process estate, to file action, and to communicate with clients, when considered with the mitigating factor of pe......
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People v. Blanck
...spend unnecessary time, money, and effort to obtain information from the respondent concerning the status of the case. People v. Bugg, 200 Colo. 512, 616 P.2d 133 (1980). While Oppel may have been aggressive in her pursuit of information from the respondent, his failure to communicate with ......
- People v. Peoples, 80SA266