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<b>Counsel Concerns:</b> Fund Misappropriation and Suspension from Practice

By ALM Staff | Law Journal Newsletters |
December 28, 2006

The Court of Appeals of Maryland decided that an 18-month suspension of an attorney from practice for taking fees out of royalty distributions before submitting the royalties to a client should run consecutively with a suspension of the attorney for the same reason by the D.C. Court of Appeals. Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland v. Midlen, Misc. Docket AG No. 4 Sept. Term, 2006. Attorney John H. Midlen, Jr. had been hired to represent the Jimmy Swaggart Ministries (JSM) for royalty distributions by the Librarian of Congress for cable TV broadcasts of JSM religious programs. Over time, JSM instructed Midlen to pay the royalties to JSM, which would then pay attorney fees to Midlen.

The DC court concluded in a reciprocal disciplinary proceeding that Midlen's taking of attorney fees before remitting the remainder of royalty distributions to JSM amounted to negligent misappropriation of client funds. When Midlen asked that an 18-month suspension from the D.C. Bar run concurrently with one from the Maryland Bar, the Maryland appellate court noted that though it may have considered an even more severe sanction, its decision to suspend Midlen 'shall commence upon the issuance of this opinion and run for its full term of eighteen months.'

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