NOTICE OF REPRIMAND (By Consent)
Case No. 00-63-GA Issued: October 24, 2000 William R. Ford, P-35870, Detroit, Michigan, by the Attorney Discipline Board Tri-County Hearing Panel #10.
1. Reprimand; 2. Effective October 24, 2000. The respondent and the Grievance Administrator filed a stipulation for a consent order of discipline in accordance with MCR 9.115(f)(5) which was approved by the Attorney Grievance Commission and accepted by the hearing panel. Respondent offered a plea of no contest to the charges of misconduct contained in Count Three of Formal Complaint 00-63-GA, to wit: That respondent failed to ensure that his non-lawyer assistants acted compatibly with his professional obligations by allowing them to sign his name to pleadings, correspondence, and affidavits. Also, respondent failed to properly supervise his office manager upon learning that she was assisting a client in an appeal and had signed respondent=s name to affidavits and filed them with the courts. Respondent=s conduct was found to be in violation of MCR 9.104(1)-(4); and Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct 5.3(a)-(c); and 8.4(a) and (c). The parties agreed that respondent should be reprimanded. Costs were assessed in the amount of $273.91.