In re Grievance Proceeding

171 F. Supp. 2d 81 (2001)

From our private database of 46,500+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

In re Grievance Proceeding

United States District Court for the District of Connecticut
171 F. Supp. 2d 81 (2001)

  • Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD

Facts

In 1998, a federal district court judge referred an unnamed attorney (respondent) to the court’s grievance committee for using a fee agreement over a decade earlier that gave the attorney discretion to reject settlements without the client’s knowledge. The fee agreement specified the attorney had complete and sole discretion to reject settlement offers and did not need to communicate offers to the client. That provision violated the Rules of Professional Conduct that Connecticut adopted in 1986. The attorney requested dismissal, claiming reliance on an informal ethics opinion issued before the new ethics rules, and that the provision violated only the comments and not the new rules themselves. The attorney had stopped using the provision before referral to the grievance committee upon learning that a later ethics opinion withdrew earlier advice allowing attorneys to reject settlements absent a satisfactory fee. Moreover, the attorney had not actually kept settlement offers from the client and communicated a settlement offer the client rejected. Finally, the attorney had continued to practice law without using the provision in fee agreements. The grievance committee concluded the attorney had violated the rules but recommended dismissal of the grievance without discipline.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Underhill, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 832,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,500 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 832,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,500 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership