Lawyer Disciplinary Board v. Neely and Hunter

Linda and Quewanncoii Stephens (the Stephenses) had a son with autism, Quinton, who attended the Fort Hill Child Development Center (center). On December 1994, Linda was called to pick up Quinton from the center because Quinton was disturbing other children during nap time. When Linda arrived, she found Quinton strapped to a posture chair in a dark room with dried fecal matter on his hands and face. According to the center, the employee watching Quinton had left the room for 90 seconds to get a diaper for Quinton. Based on conversations that Linda had with employees of the center, Quinton may have been left unattended on at least three other occasions, and employees may have strapped Quinton to the posture chair against Linda’s directions. The Stephenses withdrew Quinton from the center and hired attorneys Roger D. Hunter and Richard F. Neely (defendants) to represent them in a lawsuit against the center. Hunter and Neely received no cooperation from the center during their investigation. Hunter and Neely then filed a lawsuit against the center on the Stephenses’ behalf, claiming, among other things, that the center had in multiple instances strapped Quinton to a chair in a dark room for many hours and left him alone because of his autism. The Stephenses were not able to prove these claims during discovery, and the case was dismissed. The West Virginia State Bar Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) (plaintiff) conducted proceedings against Hunter and Neely for filing frivolous claims and recommended that the West Virginia Supreme Court admonish Hunter and Neely.