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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA
No. 04 / 05-1467 Filed March 5, 2007 IOWA SUPREME COURT ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY BOARD, Complainant, vs. WILLIAM PORTER RICKABAUGH, Respondent. ________________________________________________________________________ On review of the report of the Grievance Commission.

Grievance Commission reports respondent has committed ethical misconduct and recommends revocation of respondent's license to practice law. LICENSE REVOKED.

Charles L. Harrington and Laura M. Roan, Des Moines, for complainant.

William Porter Rickabaugh, Tabor, respondent, pro se.

2 STREIT, Justice. In this attorney disciplinary action, William P. Rickabaugh is charged with making false statements, neglecting his clients' legal matters, collecting an illegal fee, practicing law while his license is suspended, and failing to cooperate with the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board ("Board"). We find Rickabaugh violated

numerous provisions of the Iowa Code of Professional Responsibility for Lawyers. 1 We agree with the Grievance Commission's recommendation to revoke Rickabaugh's license to practice law. I. Background He is sixty

Rickabaugh was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1992.

years old and lives in Tabor, Iowa. Rickabaugh's license to practice law is currently suspended. See In re Rickabaugh, 661 N.W.2d 130 (Iowa

2003). On May 7, 2003, we suspended his license indefinitely with no possibility of reinstatement for three years. Id. at 133. This suspension was reciprocal discipline in response to Nebraska's disbarment of Rickabaugh. See Nebraska ex rel. Counsel for Discipline v. Rickabaugh, 647 N.W.2d 641 (Neb. 2002). The Nebraska Supreme Court disbarred Rickabaugh for various ethical violations, including accepting a legal matter he was not competent to handle, neglect, creating fictitious pleadings, and forging a judge's signature. Id. at 642. The present disciplinary action concerns a four-count complaint filed against Rickabaugh on March 14, 2006 by the Board. Rickabaugh did not file an answer. On July 21, 2006, the parties filed a joint Rickabaugh recognized his The

stipulation of facts and waiver of hearing.

wrongdoing and stated he has no plans to practice law again.
1This

court adopted the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct effective July 1, 2005. Because Rickabaugh's misconduct occurred before July 1, 2005, the Iowa Code of Professional Responsibility for Lawyers governs.

3 Grievance Commission recommends we revoke Rickabaugh's license to practice law. II. Scope of Review

We review the findings of the Grievance Commission de novo. Iowa Ct. R. 35.10(1). We give weight to the Commission's findings but we are not bound by those findings. Iowa Supreme Ct. Attorney Disciplinary Bd. v. McGrath, 713 N.W.2d 682, 695 (Iowa 2006). The Board has the

burden to prove disciplinary violations by a convincing preponderance of the evidence. Iowa Supreme Ct. Attorney Disciplinary Bd. v. D'Angelo, This burden is " `less than proof

710 N.W.2d 226, 230 (Iowa 2006).

beyond a reasonable doubt, but more than the preponderance standard required in the usual civil case.' " Id. (quoting Iowa Supreme Ct. Bd. of Prof'l Ethics & Conduct v. Lett, 674 N.W.2d 139, 142 (Iowa 2004)). III. Factual Findings

Rickabaugh did not file an answer to the Board's complaint. Pursuant to Iowa Court Rule 36.7, the allegations of the complaint are deemed admitted. In lieu of a hearing, the parties agreed to a stipulation of facts and admission of exhibits. Thus, we find convincing evidence to prove the following: A. Grosse Estate

In early 2001, Glenda Shelton hired Rickabaugh to assist her in probating the estate of her mother, Maxine Grosse. Grosse's will

appointed Shelton to serve as executor. On July 30, 2001, Rickabaugh sent Shelton a report and inventory which listed all of the assets in the Grosse estate. He requested she sign the report and inventory and Shortly

return it to him so he could file it with the probate court.

thereafter, Shelton wrote to Rickabaugh explaining she would not sign the report and inventory "because the numbers are not correct."

4 Specifically, she was concerned Rickabaugh had not included the interest which had accrued on Grosse's United States savings bonds. She provided the correct figures and asked Rickabaugh to "[p]lease make the corrections for me as soon as possible and send them to me to sign." Rickabaugh never made the requested changes. Shelton sent letters to Rickabaugh on March 10, 2002 and January 20, 2003, urging him to send her the corrected report and inventory so the estate could be closed. Exasperated, Shelton finally contacted another attorney to help her close the estate. Unbeknownst to Shelton, Rickabaugh had forged her

signature on the report and inventory and filed it with the court on January 31, 2002. Additionally, while Rickabaugh was representing Shelton and the estate, the clerk of court issued two probate delinquency notices for failure to file an interlocutory report. B. Benedict Estate

Rickabaugh was hired by W. Edward Thompson to probate the estate of Ruth Benedict. Benedict's will appointed Thompson, a banker, to be the executor. Rickabaugh opened the estate in September 2000. In April 2001, Thompson gave Rickabaugh a signed check for $8607 made payable to the Iowa Department of Revenue for inheritance taxes due. Rickabaugh did not file the inheritance tax return or the fiduciary return nor did he pay the taxes. $3,104.24 for penalty and interest. 2 The Benedict estate was still open when we suspended As a result, the estate had to pay

Rickabaugh's law license on May 7, 2003.

Rickabaugh did not notify

Thompson of the suspension nor did he withdraw as counsel.

2Rickabaugh

eventually reimbursed the estate for this expense.

5 On December 1, 2003, Thompson received a notice of delinquency from the clerk of court indicating an interlocutory report for the estate was overdue. Thompson contacted another attorney to look into the

matter and subsequently hired him to finish the administration of the estate. On January 29, 2004, Thompson discovered a package in his bank's night deposit box. It contained an interlocutory report and an Rickabaugh later called

envelope addressed to the clerk of court.

Thompson and said he dropped off the package so Thompson could sign the report and file it with the clerk of court. C. Ross Estate

In March 2002, James Ross hired Rickabaugh to probate the estate of his mother, Wilma Ross. Although much of the work for the estate remained to be done, Ross (a co-executor) wrote a check payable to Rickabaugh for $7386. This amount represented 100% of

Rickabaugh's fees and expenses. Rickabaugh did not file an application with the probate court for allowance and payment of fees. After we suspended Rickabaugh's license, he did not withdraw as counsel nor did he notify the executors of his suspension. In a letter dated June 3, 2004, Rickabaugh informed a co-executor that "[d]ue to declining health I will not be able to finish the estate." In the same letter, Rickabaugh stated he would "make an appropriate refund of the fee ASAP." Rickabaugh refunded the estate $5675 in March 2005. D. Failure to Cooperate

The executor of the Grosse estate filed a complaint against Rickabaugh on August 4, 2003. The Board personally served

Rickabaugh with notice of the complaint. He did not respond as required by Iowa Court Rule 34.6(4).

6 IV. Ethical Violations

Rickabaugh committed the following ethical violations: A. Misrepresentations and False Statements

Rickabaugh made at least two misrepresentations. 3 In the Grosse estate, he forged the executor's name on the report and inventory and filed it with the probate court. In the Ross estate, Rickabaugh

misrepresented the basis for his inability to close the estate. Instead of informing the executor of his recent license suspension, he represented he could not complete the work due to health problems. In both

incidents, Rickabaugh violated a number of ethical rules, namely DR 1102(A)(4) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation); DR 1-102(A)(5) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice); DR 1-102(A)(6) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct that adversely reflects on the fitness to practice law); DR 7-102(A)(5) (a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of law or fact); and DR 1-102(A)(1) (a lawyer shall not violate a disciplinary rule). B. Practicing Law While Suspended

We suspended Rickabaugh's license to practice law on May 7, 2003, and he remains under suspension. Rickabaugh did not notify the executors of the Benedict and Ross estates of his suspension as required by Iowa Court Rule 35.21(1)(a). This violated DR 1-102(A)(5) (a lawyer
3The record reveals several other misrepresentations Rickabaugh made to the court and to his clients. However, the Board in its complaint did not charge Rickabaugh with these misrepresentations. Consequently, we will not consider them at this time. See In re Ruffalo, 390 U.S. 544, 550

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