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2/16/01

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA NO. 01-B-0151

IN RE: JAMES F. SLAUGHTER

ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS PER CURIAM*
This disciplinary proceeding arises from a petition for consent discipline filed by respondent, James F. Slaughter, an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Louisiana. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") concurred in the proposed consent discipline, and the disciplinary board recommended the petition be accepted.

UNDERLYING FACTS In 1996, Kenneth Terral retained respondent in connection with a paternity and child custody matter. Mr. Terral agreed to pay respondent a fee of $1,000 plus $200 in court costs, apparently to be paid on an installment basis. Although respondent accepted weekly payments toward the fee from Mr. Terral, he failed to keep records to indicate how much had been paid. In July 1997, prior to the completion of the matter, respondent advised Mr. Terral he would have to withdraw from further representation due to a conflict of interest. After withdrawing, respondent failed to account for his earned fee and failed to refund the unearned portion of the fee, despite a request from Mr. Terral.

*

James C. Gulotta, Justice Pro Tempore sitting for Associate Justice Harry T. Lemmon.

DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS Formal Charges After investigation, the ODC filed one count of formal charges against respondent, alleging a violation of Rules 1.5 (failure to account for and refund an unearned fee), 1.15 (failure to protect client property) and 1.16(d) (failure to protect client interests and failure to refund unearned portion of advanced fee at termination of representation) of the Rules of Professional Conduct. After the filing of the formal charges, respondent submitted a petition for consent discipline, admitting to the allegations of misconduct contained in the formal charges. In his petition, he admitted that he had a prior disciplinary record, consisting of four admonitions in the past six years for similar professional violations. As a sanction, respondent proposed he receive a six-month suspension, deferred in full, subject to a one year supervised probation and participation in Ethics School sponsored through the Louisiana State Bar Association's Practice Assistance Program. The ODC concurred in the proposed discipline. It stated respondent's conduct, as recited in his petition for consent discipline, was consistent with the facts as developed in its own investigation into the matter.

Disciplinary Board Recommendation The disciplinary board concluded respondent violated the professional rules as charged and, therefore, breached his duties owed to his client and the profession. The board recognized respondent's actions were knowing and resulted in significant injury to Mr. Terral through respondent's failure to promptly refund his client's funds.1 It
1

The record indicates respondent refunded $750 of the fee prior to the hearing before the (continued...) 2

further pointed out respondent "knew or should have known that he was dealing improperly with client property" in light of his prior disciplinary record involving similar misconduct, which the board considered in aggravation. In determining whether the proposed consent discipline should be accepted or not, the board relied on Standards 4.12 and 7.2 of the ABA's Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions2 and jurisprudence from this court. Accordingly, the board recommended the petition for consent discipline be accepted. Pursuant to that petition, it recommended respondent be suspended from the practice of law for a period of six months, deferred, subject to a one year supervised probation and participation in Ethics School through the Louisiana State Bar Association. Neither respondent nor the ODC filed objections in this court to the board's recommendation.

DISCUSSION Although this matter arises from a petition for consent discipline, Supreme Court Rule XIX,

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Louisiana Law