Not Practice Ready

The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered a three-year suspension of an attorney followed by probation for two years on reinstatement.

The attorney had been admittted in 2003 and worked in-house for an insurance company before entering private practice.

He was ill-equiped for the transition

In August 2010, respondent left the carrier company to engage in the private practice of law. Up to that time, respondent did not have any experience in the financial aspects of the attorney-client relationship. He had never negotiated a fee, handled client funds, or drafted a contract for the provision of legal services, nor had he ever worked with a billing system or utilized a trust account...

Although respondent was an associate at the law firm, he practiced independently, essentially sharing office space with no direct supervision by the law firm. Because respondent operated largely on his own under this agreement, the law firm did not provide him with formal training or oversight related to the handling of client funds or billing.

 He got into trouble in representing a building contractor. The trouble included misappropriation. (Mike Frisch)