BEFORE THE VIRGINIA STATE BAR DISCIPLINARY BOARD IN THE MATTER OF VSB DOCKET NO KIMBERLY LISA MARSHALL

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1 VIRGINIA: BEFORE THE VIRGINIA STATE BAR DISCIPLINARY BOARD IN THE MATTER OF VSB DOCKET NO KIMBERLY LISA MARSHALL AGREED DISPOSITION MEMORANDUM ORDER On January 9, 2018 ths matter was heard by the Vrgna State Bar Dscplnary Board upon the jont request of the partes for the Board to accept the Agreed Dsposton sgned by the partes and offered to the Board as provded by the Rules of the Supreme Court of Vrgna. The panel conssted of John A.C. Keth, Char, Yvonne S. Gbney, Jeffrey L. Marks, Melssa W. Robnson and Tambera D. Stephenson, Lay Member. The Vrgna State Bar was represented by Edward J. Dllon, Jr., Senor Assstant Bar Counsel. Kmberly Lsa Marshall was not present and was represented by Deborah A. Wlson, Guardan Ad Ltem. The Char polled the members of the Board as to whether any of them were aware of any personal or fnancal nterest or bas whch would preclude any of them from farly hearng the matter to whch each member responded n the negatve. Court Reporter Jennfer L. Harfeld, Chandler and Halasz, P.O. Box 9349, Rchmond, Vrgna 23227, telephone (804) , after beng duly sworn, reported the hearng and transcrbed the proceedngs. WHEREFORE, upon consderaton of the Agreed Dsposton, Certfcaton, Amended Certfcaton, Respondent s Dscplnary Record, the Arguments of the Partes, and after due delberaton, It s ORDERED that the Dscplnary Board accepts the Agreed Dsposton and the Respondent shall receve Suspenson of one year and one day, as set forth n the Agreed Dsposton, whch s attached and ncorporated n ths Memorandum Order. It s further ORDERED that the sancton s effectve January 9, It s further ORDERED that: The Respondent must comply wth the requrements of Part Sx, IV, of the Rules of the Supreme Court of Vrgna. The Respondent shall forthwth gve notce by certfed mal of the Revocaton or Suspenson of hs or her lcense to practce law n the Commonwealth of Vrgna, to all clents for whom he or she s currently handlng matters and to all opposng attorneys and presdng Judges n pendng ltgaton. The Respondent shall also make approprate arrangements for the dsposton of matters then n hs or her care n conformty wth the wshes of hs or her clents. The Respondent shall gve such notce wthn 14 days of the effectve date of the Revocaton or Suspenson, and make such arrangements as are requred heren wthn 45 days of the effectve date of the Revocaton or Suspenson. The Respondent shall also furnsh proof to the Bar wthn 60 days of the effectve day of the Revocaton or Suspenson that such notces have been tmely gven and such arrangements made for the dsposton of matters. It s further ORDERED that f the Respondent s not handlng any clent matters on the effectve date of the Revocaton or Suspenson, he or she shall submt an affdavt to that effect wthn 60 days of the effectve date of the Revocaton or Suspenson to the Clerk of the Dscplnary System at the Vrgna State Bar. All ssues concernng the adequacy of the notce and arrangements requred by Paragraph shall be determned by the Vrgna State Bar Dscplnary Board, whch may mpose a sancton of Revocaton or addtonal Suspenson for falure to comply wth the requrements of ths subparagraph.

2 The Clerk of the Dscplnary System shall assess costs pursuant to 13-9 E. of the Rules. It s further ORDERED that an attested copy of ths Order be maled to the Respondent by certfed mal, return recept requested, at her last address of record wth the Vrgna State Bar at P.O. Box 921, Poolesvlle, MD 20837, and a copy to Deborah A. Wlson, Respondent s Guardan Ad Ltem at Law Offce of Deborah A. Wlson, Mosby Tower, Man St., Sute 203, Farfax, VA 22030, and a copy hand-delvered to Edward J. Dllon, Jr., Senor Assstant Bar Counsel, Vrgna State Bar, Sute 700, 1111 E. Man Street, Rchmond, VA Enter ths Order ths 9th day of January, VIRGINIA STATE BAR DISCIPLINARY BOARD John A. C. Keth Dgtally sgned by John A. C. Keth Date: :33:10-05'00' John A.C. Keth Char

3 VIRGINIA: BEFORE THE DISCIPLINARY BOARD OF THE VIRGINIA ST A TE BAR Jan 5, 2018 fn THE MATTER OF KIMBERLY LISA MARSHALL VSB Docket No AGREED DISPOSITION (Suspenson of One Year and One Day) Pursuant to the Rules of the Vrgna Supreme Court Rules of Court Part 6, Secton IV, Paragraph 13-6.H., the Vrgna State Bar, by Edward James Dllon, Jr., Senor Assstant Bar Counsel and Kmberly Lsa Marshall, Respondent, and Deborah A. Wlson, Respondent's guardan ad ltem, hereby enter nto the followng Agreed Dsposton arsng out of the referenced matter. I. STIPULATIONS OF FACT 1. At all relevant tmes, Respondent was a duly lcensed attorney n the Commonwealth of Vrgna. 2. On or about Aprl 5, 2013, Complanant Darlene H. Ruzc ("Complanant") and Respondent met to dscuss Respondent's representaton of Complanant n regard to a property settlement agreement (the "PSA") and dvorce. 3. On or about Aprl 13, 2013, Complanant and Respondent executed a retaner agreement, whch requred payment of a $5,000 advance legal fee and stated that Respondent would provde Complanant wth "a monthly statement of fees and expenses assocated" wth Respondent's legal work for Complanant. 4. On Aprl 5, 2013, Complanant pad Respondent $2,500. Complanant later pad Respondent $2,500 on June 7, 2013 and $1,500 on March 19, Respondent presented each check to Captal One bank for depost nto her trust account. In total, Complanant pad Respondent $6,500 n advance legal fees. 5. Complanant never receved a statement or nvoce from Respondent that detaled the legal servces performed for Complanant or otberwse ndcated what, f any, legal fees had been earned by Respondent. 6. In January 2014, Complanant and Respondent had a scheduled telephone conference to dscuss ssues arsng out of the PSA. Respondent dd not jon the conference call and, thereafter, dd not respond to phone calls or e-mals from Complanant.

4 7. For ten (I 0) days after the faled January 2014 conference call, Complanant attempted to contact Respondent by telephone. After her phone calls to Respondent went unanswered, Complanant contacted the Loudoun County Sherffs Offce and requested that the Sherffs Offce check on Respondent's well-beng. A Sherffs deputy left a note for Respondent and Respondent called Complanant that nght. Complanant told Respondent that she wanted to fle a temporary support order and proceed wth draftng the PSA. 8. Complanant attempted to reach Respondent from January 2014 through May On May 13, 2014, Complanant contacted Respondent on her personal cell phone to nqure as to the status of her temporary support order and PSA. Respondent nformed Complanant that she would fle the temporary support order at the end of May On June 6, 2014, Complanant receved a text message from Respondent's personal cell phone statng that Respondent would fle the temporary support order that day. Respondent dd not fle the temporary support order. 10. On June 11, 2014, Complanant, havng heard nothng further from Respondent, sent an e-mal to Respondent. In response to that e-mal, Complanant receved an automated e-mal response from Respondent statng that Respondent had an emergency and had no access to e-mal, voce mal, or text messages. 11. On June 11, 2014, Complanant also receved a long text message from Respondent's personal cell phone. The message ndcated t was from Respondent's mother and stated that Respondent had been sck and would respond as soon as she was better. Complanant repled to ths text message, but dd not receve a response from ether Respondent or her mother. 12. By e-mal to Complanant dated June 13, 2014, Respondent apologzed for falng to fle Complanant's temporary support order and stated "I wll do whatever t takes ths weekend &/or today to make certan that I go and fle t myself on Monday." 13. Respondent dd not fle Complanant's temporary support order on Monday or anytme thereafter. 14. In or about August 2014, Complanant retaned another attorney, Adranne Ramos, to represent her. 15. By certfed letter to Respondent dated September 4, 2014, Ms. Ramos notfed Respondent that Complanant had retaned Ms. Ramos to represent her. Ms. Ramos stated that Complanant was "uncertan of what work had been done on her matter[,]" requested that Respondent refund $2,500 to Complanant, and asked that Respondent send Complanant's full fle to Ms. Ramos. 16. Ms. Ramos later checked the Farfax County Crcut Court records and determned that Respondent had not fled any pleadngs on behalf of Complanant. 2

5 17. In or about September 2014, Complanant fled a bar complant aganst Respondent wth the Vrgna State Bar. 18. As part of the Vrgna State Bar's nvestgaton 'nto Complanant's bar complant, Vrgna State Bar Investgator Ronald H. McCall revewed the records for Respondent's bank accounts at Captal One Bank, ncludng the records for Respondent's trust account (the "Trust Account Records"). 19. That revew of the Trust Account Records showed that, between Aprl of 2013 and June of 2014, Respondent deposted $21, nto the trust account and wthdrew $13, from the trust account. As of September 30, 2015, the balance n the trust account totaled $7, Further revew and analyss of the Trust Account Records for the perod October 2015 through June 30, 2016 showed the followng: a. On October 30, 2015, Respondent wthdrew $4,000 from the trust account, leavng a balance of $3, b. No actvty n November of c. On December 17, 2015, Respondent wthdrew $1,600 from the trust account, leavng a balance of $2, d. On January 12, 2016, Respondent wthdrew $500 from the trust account and on January 29, 2016 wthdrew $500 from the trust account, leavng a balance of $1, e. On February 12, 2016, Respondent wthdrew $500 from the trust account, leavng a balance of $ f. On March 25, 2016, Respondent wthdrew $500 from the trust account leavng a balance of $ g. No actvty from Aprl 1, 2016 through June 30, As of June 30, 2016, the Trust Account Records show a balance of $ Respondent dd not refund any of $6,500 n advance legal fees she receved from Complanant to Complanant and, snce on or about October 30, 2015, has not mantaned the $6,500 advance legal fee n her trust account. Respondent also dd not forward any of the $6,500 n advance legal fees to Complanant's subsequent attorney. 22. On March 20, 2017, Respondent voluntarly consented to an Imparment suspenson (the "Imparment Suspenson"). A copy of the Consent Order of Imparment Suspenson s attached hereto as Exhbt A. Respondent's lcense to practce law n the Commonwe'alth of Vrgna remans suspended ndefntely based on her Imparment Suspenson. 3

6 23. The crcumstances that led to the Imparment Suspenson appear to have been a contrbutng factor to the Msconduct at ssue n ths matter. 24. Respondent has no pror dscplnary record wth the Vrgna State Bar. II. NATURE OF MISCONDUCT Such conduct by the Respondent consttutes msconduct n volaton of the followng provsons of the Rules of Professonal Conduct: RULE 1.3 Dlgence (a) A lawyer shall act wth reasonable dlgence and promptness n representng a clent. (b) A lawyer shall not ntentonally fal to carry out a contract of employment entered nto wth a clent for professonal servces, but may wthdraw as permtted under Rule RULE 1.4 Communcaton (a) A lawyer shall keep a clent reasonably nformed about the status of a matter and promptly comply wth reasonable requests for nformaton. RULE 1.15 Safekeepng Property *** (b) Specfc Dutes._ A lawyer shall: *** (3) mantan complete records of all funds, securtes, and other propertes of a clent comng nto the possesson of the lawyer and render approprate accountngs to the clent regardng them; (4) promptly pay or delver to the clent or another as requested by such person the funds, securtes, or other propertes n the possesson of the lawyer that such person s enttled to receve; and 4

7 (5) not dsburse funds or use property of a clent or thrd party wthout ther consent or convert funds or property of a clent or thrd party, except as drected by a trbunal. RULE 1.16 Declnng Or Termnatng Representaton (a) Except as stated n paragraph (c), a lawyer shall not represent a clent or, where representaton has commenced, shall wthdraw from the representaton of a clent f: (I) the representaton wll result n volaton of the Rules of Professonal Conduct or other law; (2) the lawyer's physcal or mental condton materally mpars the lawyer's ablty to represent the clent; or (3) the lawyer s dscharged. *** (d) Upon termnaton ofrepresentaton, a lawyer shall take steps to the extent reasonably practcable to protect a clent's nterests, such as gvng reasonable notce to the clent, allowng tme for employment of other counsel, refundng any advance payment of fee that has not been earned and handlng records as ndcated n paragraph ( e ). (e) All orgnal, clent-furnshed documents and any orgnals of legal nstruments or offcal documents whch are n the lawyer's possesson (wlls, corporate mnutes, etc.) are the property of the clent and, therefore, upon termnaton of the representaton, those tems shall be returned wthn a reasonable tme to the clent or the clent's new counsel upon request, whether or not the clent has pad the fees and costs owed the lawyer. If the lawyer wants to keep a copy of such orgnal documents, the lawyer must ncur the cost of duplcaton. Also upon termnaton, the clent, upon request, must also be provded wthn a reasonable tme copes of the followng documents from the lawyer's fle, whether or not the clent has pad the fees and costs owed the lawyer: lawyer/clent and lawyer/thrd-party communcatons; the lawyer's copes of clent-furnshed documents (unless the orgnals have been returned to the clent pursuant to ths paragraph); transcrpts, pleadngs and dscovery responses; workng and fnal drafts of legal nstruments, offcal documents, nvestgatve reports, legal memoranda, and other attorney work product documents prepared or collected for the clent n the course of the representaton; research materals; and blls prevously submtted to the clent. Although the lawyer may bll and seek to collect from the clent the costs assocated wth makng a copy of these materals, the lawyer may not use the clent's refusal to pay for such materals as a bass to refuse the clent's request. The lawyer, however, s not requred under ths Rule to provde the clent copes of bllng records and documents ntended only for nternal use, such as memoranda prepared by the lawyer dscussng conflcts of nterest, -staffng consderatons, or dffcultes arsng from the lawyer-clent relatonshp. The lawyer has met hs or her oblgaton under ths paragraph by furnshng these tems one tme at clent request upon termnaton; provson of multple copes s not requred. The lawyer has not met hs or her oblgaton under ths paragraph by the mere 5

8 provson of copes of documents on an tem-by-tem bass durng the course of the representaton. RULE 8.4 Msconduct It s professonal msconduct for a lawyer to: *** (b) commt a crmnal or delberately wrongful act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthness or ftness to practce law; (c) engage n conduct nvolvng dshonesty, fraud, decet or msrepresentaton whch reflects adversely on the lawyer's ftness to practce law; III. PROPOSED DISPOSITION Accordngly, Senor Assstant Bar Counsel, Respondent, and Respondent's guardan ad ltem tender to the Dscplnary Board for ts approval the Agreed Dsposton of a suspenson of one year and one day as representng an approprate sancton f ths matter were to be heard through an evdentary hearng by a panel of the Dscplnary Board. If the Agreed Dsposton s approved, the Clerk of the Dscplnary System shall assess an admnstratve fee. THE VIRGINIA ST A TE BAR y. - /-) - 0. By: Z,..,,_.(,)- - - \...A-- ) Edward James Dllon, Jr., Senor Assstant Bar Counsel s:u.. L;C; Kmberly Lsa Marshall, Respondent 6

9 7. Wlson, Respondent's Guardan ad

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