Lawyer Claiming to Lose Records While Fleeing Protests Suspended
The Supreme Court docket of Ohio today suspended a Lorain County legal professional for two decades, with a person 12 months stayed, for mishandling clients’ money whilst on probation from a prior charge of mishandling client funds.
In a unanimous for every curiam viewpoint, the Supreme Court suspended Kenneth Nelson II of Avon Lake from the exercise of law. The suspension is partly related to Nelson’s failure to deliver data regarding expenses he charged shoppers. He claimed his legal assistant shed the documents after the two had been compelled to flee their Cleveland business during the May perhaps 2020 nationwide protests in the wake of George Floyd’s demise.
The Court ruled that if Nelson is reinstated to the observe of regulation, he should serve a two-yr interval of monitored probation with an lawyer who will oversee Nelson’s money arrangements with shoppers.
This is Nelson’s 3rd sanction because 2015. The Court publicly reprimanded him in October 2015 for committing various ethics violations when representing a solitary customer. In December 2017, the Court suspended him for two years, with 18 months stayed, for several ethical violations, such as failing to deposit and hold shopper service fees in a shopper belief account till the fees had been attained.
In this scenario, the Court famous the 2017 sanction “was insufficient to prevent Nelson from engaging in further misconduct.”
Lawyer’s Participation in Bar Affiliation Application Raises Problems

Pursuing Nelson’s reinstatement to the apply of law in July 2018, he was put on just one year of probation and noted to a monitoring legal professional centered on “trust-account and document-trying to keep demands relating to fees and other customer materials.”
Even though below supervision, Nelson sought to participate in the Lorain County Bar Association’s “Modest Implies Program.” That application aimed to present reasonably priced lawful illustration to clients who could not find the money for lawyers at neighborhood sector rates. Lawyers participating in the Modest Suggests System would accept a $500 retainer and bill shoppers $75 per hour. Bar affiliation government director Jeannie Motylewski testified that she discussed the system with Nelson by telephone and emailed him copies of the sample cost agreements to reveal the plan phrases to shoppers.
Concerning early 2019 and early 2020, Nelson recognized 18 referrals from the Modest Usually means Method. In February 2020, the bar association commenced investigating Nelson’s compliance with the terms of his monitored probation and his dealing with of the retainers compensated by his Modest Means Program shoppers. Two months afterwards, the bar association notified Nelson that he had violated the program’s procedures. The bar association instructed him it supposed to revoke his probation and ask for the Supreme Court docket reinstate his suspension.
The bar association filed a criticism with the Board of Skilled Carry out, proclaiming Nelson was failing to maintain the retainer fees in a shopper have confidence in account until eventually they ended up gained and that he manufactured a bogus assertion to the Supreme Courtroom when making an attempt to terminate the oversight of the monitoring legal professional. The bar affiliation also claimed Nelson failed to cooperate with the disciplinary continuing concerning his violations.
Lawyer Questioned About Charge Agreements

At the disciplinary listening to, Motylewski made a copy of the electronic mail and rate arrangement she despatched Nelson to demonstrate the Modest Means Method participation rules. Nelson objected, claiming he did not remember speaking to Motylewski and did not obtain the documents.
Nelson testified that he applied his have settlement sort and that he misunderstood the terms of the system. Relatively than acquiring a $500 retainer and charging $75 for every hour, Nelson claimed he thought the plan authorized him to demand a $500 flat rate. Simply because he billed a flat fee, he considered that these funds were being considered “earned on receipt” and that he did not have to deposit the retainers into his shopper belief account.
The board observed the guidelines allow for an legal professional to demand a flat payment and contemplate the dollars gained on receipt. A lawyer using that technique, nonetheless, must notify the consumer in writing that the consumer may possibly be entitled to a refund of all or section of the fee if the law firm does not total the illustration.
The bar affiliation had pressed Nelson for copies of the cost arrangement he utilized with the 18 purchasers to determine if he appropriately notified them of their refund rights. At the disciplinary hearing, Nelson produced one duplicate and claimed the other 17 were lacking. The copy he presented complied with the guidelines, but the belief noted the arrangement was signed by a client four days soon after the bar association notified Nelson he was beneath investigation.
Protests, Assistant Blamed for Missing Agreements

The board mentioned that the bar affiliation began inquiring about the price agreements in February 2020 and requested he create them in October 2020 as section of the discovery procedure similar to the criticism. Nelson 2 times asked for extensions of time to comply and did not create the paperwork. He argued in January 2021 that the files did not will need to be turned about for the reason that they had been safeguarded by lawyer-client privilege.
When requested by the chair of the board’s three-member disciplinary-listening to panel to convert in excess of the arrangement, Nelson 1st admitted the paperwork were misplaced.
He testified that he and his authorized assistant fled his downtown Cleveland places of work in the course of the protests, and he believed his authorized assistant had taken a box dwelling that contained the rate agreements. He mentioned his assistant afterwards informed Nelson she was not able to find the box and was nevertheless wanting for the agreements.
When requested why he did not give the bar association with the agreements in February 2020, months ahead of the protests, he claimed the association did not inquire for the files.
“The board uncovered that Nelson’s steps during the disciplinary procedure rendered his testimony and defense suspect,” the belief said.
Nelson waited almost a yr to assert the paperwork ended up lacking, the board mentioned, and he did not explain why he did not simply call his authorized assistant to testify at the hearing about how the agreements went missing. The board mentioned he did not simply call any of his clients to testify about the conditions of the agreements, and he did not obtain any copies of the settlement from his purchasers.
The board identified Nelson violated the ethical regulations necessitating him to keep customer funds secured and not consider them till he did the work to receive the income.
Lawyer Lied When Attempting to Conclusion Probation

In May 2020, Nelson sought to terminate the monitored probation from his 2017 sanction. He filed the application 4 times right after assembly with the bar association’s ethics committee, which satisfied to discuss his compliance with the Modest Usually means Plan. But on the software to the Courtroom, he submitted a sworn statement indicating he complied with all conditions of his probation and that no disciplinary proceedings ended up pending from him.
Nelson claimed this statement was genuine simply because he “believed” he was not subject to a disciplinary proceeding as he considered he was complying with the Modest Suggests Application regulations. No matter of no matter if he was complying, Nelson admitted he was becoming investigated at the time. And the board concluded that he made a untrue assertion when he claimed he no investigation was pending.
The Courtroom famous that Nelson violated the notification guidelines with regards to the likely return of the deposits, but it found no proof that the Modest Means Program clients received something less than diligent and specialist illustration and that Nelson did not inappropriately revenue from his misconduct.
The Courtroom stayed the 2nd yr of Nelson’s suspension and stated he will be necessary to serve the entire suspension if he commits any more misconduct. If reinstated, he ought to post all customer price agreements and customer-rely on-account documents to his monitoring lawyer every month for two several years. The Court docket also ordered Nelson to shell out the fees of the disciplinary proceedings.
2021-0759. Lorain Cty. Bar Assn. v. Nelson, Slip Opinion No. 2022-Ohio-1288.
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