CUMBERLAND COUNTY ATTORNEY CENSURED FOR FAILING TO REFUND UNEARNED FEES
According to the Tennessee Bar Association, on April 13, the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court censured Cumberland County attorney Margaret Jane Powers. Powers had agreed to represent a client in probating an estate. Although her standard practice was to charge a security retainer and have the client sign a fee agreement stating that the retainer was nonrefundable, an inadvertent office error resulted in no fee agreement being signed.
After beginning the representation, Powers delayed in taking action on the client’s behalf. Once she was discharged by the client, she refused to refund the unearned portion of the security retainer, even though she knew no signed fee agreement existed to make it nonrefundable. She also delayed in returning the client’s prepaid litigation expenses.
The court determined that Powers violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 (diligence), 1.5(f) (fees), 1.15 (safeguarding client property), and 1.16(d) (duties following withdrawal or discharge).
