Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Minnesota Disbarment
The Minnesota Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney admitted in 2011
The petition alleged that Bradley committed numerous acts of professional misconduct, including misappropriating client funds, committing fraud on the court, neglecting—and ultimately abandoning—his role as a court-appointed parenting consultant, failing to maintain trust account books and records, and failing to cooperate with the disciplinary investigation. Bradley received a copy of the petition via certified mail but did not respond, so we deemed the allegations admitted and allowed the parties to file memoranda on the appropriate discipline. Bradley did not file a memorandum or appear at oral argument. The Director asserts that the appropriate discipline is disbarment. We agree.
Misconduct
Bradley misappropriated funds from one client, violating Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(c). The client was entitled to an $8,442.23 judgment following a marital dissolution proceeding, which Bradley received from counsel for the client’s former spouse and deposited into his firm’s trust account. Bradley did not disburse any of these funds to the client and instead used the funds for purposes unrelated to the client’s representation, including for his own personal benefit. Bradley also failed to properly maintain trust account books and records for his law firm, violating Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 1.15(h). Due to Bradley’s failure to maintain all required books and records, the Director was unable to fully audit the trust account and could not determine precisely when Bradley transferred this client’s money out of the trust account and the exact amount of client funds that were misappropriated.
In addition, Bradley committed fraud on the court during his own marital dissolution proceeding by making false statements related to a judgment and decree and defying district court orders, violating Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 3.3(a)(1),3 3.4(c),4 and 8.4(c) and (d). Bradley also failed to adequately communicate with the parties in a family law matter after becoming a court-appointed parenting consultant, and he abandoned that appointment without notice, violating Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(d). And Bradley failed to cooperate with the Director’s disciplinary investigation, violating Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.1(b)6 and Rule 25, RLPR.
(Mike Frisch)
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2024/06/the-minnesota-supreme-court-has-disbarred-an-attorney-the-petition-alleged-that-bradley-committed-numerous-acts-of-professio.html