Attorney Grievance Commission of v. White11/6/1992
On January 9, 1992, James J. White, III, a member of the Maryland Bar since 1963, was charged by the Attorney Grievance Commission, acting through Bar Counsel, with violations of Rule 1.15 (Safekeeping Property) and Rule 8.4 (Misconduct) of the Rules of Professional Conduct, as well as with violating Maryland Code (1989), §§ 10-306 to -307 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article. We referred the matter, pursuant to Maryland Rule BV9 b, to Judge Theodore R. Eschenburg of the Circuit Court for Worcester County to make findings of fact and conclusions of law.
On June 16, 1992, after an evidentiary hearing, Judge Eschenburg found that White represented Marlene E. Steward and her minor child, Larry, Jr., then fourteen months old, in connection with a motor vehicle accident which occurred on December 23, 1980 and which resulted in the
death of the father, Larry Steward, Sr. White settled the claims of the wife and minor child for $20,000. After deducting his fee and expenses, White disbursed the net sum of $11,982 to Mrs. Steward. Judge Eschenburg found that $5,000 of this amount was subsequently placed in a certificate of deposit in a local bank in the names of James J. White, III, as trustee for Larry, Jr. and Marlene, or the survivor of them. By February of 1989, that sum, with the addition of interest, had increased to $10,252.20. At that time, White transferred the funds to a money market account in The Chesapeake Bank, directing that the statements be sent to his home rather than to his office.
Judge Eschenburg found that Mrs. Steward died on March 19, 1989. Thereafter, an uncle of Larry, Jr. consulted White with respect to adopting the minor child, which White accomplished for him. White never advised the uncle of the existence of the money market account entrusted to him for Larry, Jr.
Between August 30, 1989 and May 5, 1990, as found by Judge Eschenburg, White, in a series of withdrawals, withdrew $10,450 from the trust account, leaving a balance of only $238.29. As a result of information received by Bar Counsel, White was asked to account for Larry's money. Bar Counsel was told that $14,147.16 was then on deposit with The Chesapeake Bank. White did not at that time acknowledge that the money had been used by him for his own purposes and then replaced.
In his findings, Judge Eschenburg referred to a stipulation between White and Bar Counsel that White had testified falsely before an Inquiry Panel concerning his use of the trust account monies; and that these funds had actually been used by him "for personal and office expenses and that he knew at the time of the use of the funds that those funds were misused by him." According to Judge Eschenburg, the evidence disclosed that White "hoped that the misuse of funds would escape detection and that ultimately, if called upon to account for the funds, he would replace the misused funds with other funds available to him." Judge
Eschenburg found from the evidence that White replaced the misappropriated funds prior to the misuse coming to the attention of the Attorney Grievance Commission and that White had added an additional sum to these funds representing interest which would have been earned if the fund had remained untouched.
At the hearing, White testified, as did Richard B. Vincent, Director of Lawyer Counseling for the Maryland State Bar Association, that White "suffered from severe alcoholism until on or about January 1992" when he contacted Vincent for help. The evidence further disclosed that Vincent referred White to an in-patient alcoholism treatment facility where White underwent and successfully comple
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