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03/19/04 "See News Release 027 for any concurrences and/or dissents."

SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA NO. 03-B-2827 IN RE: JOANN GINES ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS PER CURIAM
This disciplinary matter arises from formal charges filed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel ("ODC") against respondent, JoAnn Gines, an attorney licensed to practice law in Louisiana.

FORMAL CHARGES The ODC filed two sets of formal charges against respondent. The first, consisting of one count and bearing the disciplinary board's docket number 99-DB095, was filed on September 27, 1999 and supplemented and amended on June 14, 2002. The second set of formal charges, bearing the disciplinary board's docket number 00-DB-044, was filed on March 3, 2000 and encompasses three counts of misconduct.

99-DB-095 The Ferguson Matter In July 1997, Martha Ferguson retained respondent to review and notarize documents relating to Ms. Ferguson's sale of an annuity to the J. G. Wentworth S.S.C. Limited Partnership ("Wentworth"). Respondent performed the services and charged Ms. Ferguson a fee of 20% of the sales price, amounting to approximately $4,000. Ms. Ferguson was dissatisfied with the fee retained by respondent, but respondent declined to refund any portion of the fee, contending that it was fully earned.

Furthermore, in connection with the sale, respondent instructed Wentworth's representatives to wire transfer the sales proceeds to a specified bank account maintained by respondent at Hibernia National Bank. The wire transfer was

accomplished pursuant to respondent's instructions, and she later disbursed funds to Ms. Ferguson from that account. However, the Hibernia account contained

respondent's personal funds and was not a client trust account. The ODC alleged that respondent's conduct violated the following provisions of the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct: Rules 1.5 (fee arrangements), 1.15(a) (failure to hold client property separate from the lawyer's own property), and 1.15(c) (failure to deposit disputed funds in trust).

00-DB-044 Count I

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Louisiana Law