In the Matter of Betty Bass, 2013CO40 (June 24, 2013)

“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” – Frank Herbert. In this attorney-discipline case, Attorney Bass was suspended from the practice of law, stayed subject to the successful completion of a two-year probationary period. The Office of Attorney Regulation later asked the Presiding Disciplinary Judge to revoke her probation. He did so after 4 months of attempting to serve her with the request. The date for the end of her probation passed. A week later the Judge revoked her probation and suspended her for a year and a day. She appealed, claiming that the Judge lacked authority to do so after the last day of her probation. The Court disagreed because only an affidavit of compliance and the issuance of an order certifying completion ends probation. Because that didn’t happen, she was still “on probation.” Thus, the Judge was authorized to order suspension.

http://www.courts.state.co.us/userfiles/file/Court_Probation/Supreme_Court/Opinions/2012/12SA89.pdf

http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?opinionid=8998&courtid=2

Moye White LLP v. David I. Beren, 2013 COA 89 (June 6, 2013)

“We all get a second chance; it’s called tomorrow.” Anon. Moye White (MW) represented David Beren in probate litigation. MW employed and assigned to Beren’s case an attorney with a past of disciplinary proceedings, mental illness, alcoholism, and related arrests. MW sued Beren for its attorneys’ fees; Beren counterclaimed for breach of fiduciary duty claiming he should have been told about the attorney’s history. The court of appeals disagreed; a law firm does not have a duty to disclose such history to a client. Any risk posed by an attorney’s past conduct is speculative, and therefore not material. For the same reason, no ethical duty to disclose such information exists under professional conduct rules 1.4 or 7.1. The court of appeals also upheld costs awarded MW for uploading documents into a document review platform and costs incurred after a pretrial offer of settlement.

http://www.courts.state.co.us/Courts/Court_of_Appeals/Opinion/2013/12CA0954-PD.pdf

http://www.cobar.org/opinions/opinion.cfm?opinionid=8973&courtid=1