NOTICE OF REPRIMAND (By Consent)
Case No. 98-155-GA Terence W. Douglass, P-49136, Ironwood, Michigan, by Attorney Discipline Board Upper Peninsula Hearing Panel #1.
1) Reprimand; 2) Effective December 4, 1998. Respondent represented the plaintiff in a civil matter in Gogebic County Circuit Court. Respondent entered a plea of no contest to the following allegations of neglect: Despite being given extensions of time, respondent failed to reply to the defendant's discovery requests, causing sanctions to be entered against him and causing his client's matter to be dismissed; despite a court order requiring depositions to be conducted in by a date certain, respondent cancelled multiple depositions at the last moment and was sanctioned $590 for the inconvenience caused to the opposing party; and, due to the "continued intransigence" of respondent in his failure to comply with the court rules and court orders regarding discovery, his client's matter was dismissed.
The panel concluded that respondent's conduct violated MCR 9.104(1)-(4); and Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1(a)- (c); 1.2(a); 1.3; 3.2; and 8.4(a) and (c).
The parties stipulated that respondent be reprimanded. Costs were assessed in the amount of $326.51.