NOTICE OF REPRIMAND Case No. 93-239-GA; 93-260-FA Cleophas Culp, Jr., P-44768, Leslie, Michigan, by the Attorney Discipline Board Modifying Ingham County Hearing Panel #2's Order of Suspension for Thirty Days.
1) Reprimand; 2) Effective October 2, 1995. The panel concluded that the respondent neglected a legal matter and disregarded his professional obligations by sending his client to a scheduled deposition with the respondent's secretary, who was not an attorney, without advising his client that the secretary was not qualified to represent the client's legal interests. The panel further found that the respondent failed to appear on the client's behalf at a subsequent deposition. The respondent's conduct was found to be in violation of MCR 9.104(1)- (4) and Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1(c); 1.2(a); 1.3; 1.4; 3.2; and 8.4(a)and(c). The panel ordered that the respondent be suspended for a period of thirty days.
The respondent's petition for review was considered by the Attorney Discipline Board which affirmed the hearing panel's findings but modified the discipline by holding the thirty-day suspension in abeyance for a period of one year and appointing a monitor to meet with the respondent on a regular basis to review and discuss the respondent's office procedures, law office management, attorney/client relations, legal research and other matters in the monitor's discretion. Upon the completion of the one-year monitoring period, the order of suspension was vacated and the respondent was reprimanded. Costs were assessed in the amount of $476.39.