In re Winthrop

Attorney Peter Deforest Winthrop (defendant) represented Farouq Nobani in various matters. Nobani asked Winthrop to draft a will for his neighbor, Corrine Rice, a 92-year-old woman with no family. In addition, Rice asked Winthrop to draft a power of attorney (POA) designating Nobani to handle her financial affairs, which Winthrop did, but he did not use the Illinois statutory property-power form. Before agreeing to serve as Rice’s agent, Nobani requested that Winthrop add a clause protecting Nobani from liability (the clause). After Nobani signed the POA, Winthrop and Nobani withdrew funds from one of Rice’s bank accounts while Winthrop represented himself as Nobani’s attorney, and bank officials contacted the police. The PLOWS Council on Aging (PLOWS) determined that Rice was suffering from dementia and sought to freeze her accounts. PLOWS’s attorney, Janna Dutton, testified that Winthrop told her he represented Nobani and asked why PLOWS wanted to freeze the accounts because the banks were not giving him and Nobani any money anyway. Winthrop did not reveal to her that Nobani had already withdrawn money from Rice’s account. Winthrop was charged with professional misconduct in part for breaching his fiduciary duty to Rice, making a false statement of material fact to a third person, and fraudulent conduct. The evidence indicated that Winthrop knew the clause afforded Nobani no additional protection from liability and that it would only accomplish getting Nobani to agree to be the agent as Rice wished. The hearing board recommended dismissing the charges, concluding that Winthrop had not breached his fiduciary duty because the POA did not confer any unusual powers and did not take the place of any statutory or common-law protections Rice would have if the Illinois statutory POA form were used. The review board reversed, finding that the POA was overly broad and exceeded the powers of a traditional POA. The review board recommended a two-year suspension for Winthrop. Winthrop appealed.