In the Matter of Strauss, Ariel J. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-056-18)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-12148 IN THE MATTER OF ARIEL J. STRAUSS. Suffolk. January 24, 2018. – April 12, 2018. Present: Gants, C.J., Lowy, Cypher, & Kafker, JJ. Attorney at Law, Disciplinary proceeding, Misuse of client funds, Suspension. Information filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on January 20, 2016. The case was heard by Duffly, J. Terrence D. Pricher, Assistant Bar Counsel. Jeffrey D. Woolf for Board of Bar Overseers. Thomas F. Maffei for the respondent. LOWY, J. We consider in this case the information filed by the Board of Bar Overseers (board) that an attorney intentionally misused a client’s funds with temporary deprivation resulting, and its recommendation as to the appropriate level of discipline to be imposed. A single justice of this court suspended Ariel J. Strauss (respondent) from the practice of law for six months, and the board and bar counsel appealed.[1] For the reasons that follow, we reverse the order of term suspension and, accepting the board’s recommendation, order an indefinite suspension.[2] Background. On August 25, 2014, bar counsel filed a two-count petition for discipline against the respondent. Count one alleged that between June 1, 2012, and September 30, 2013, the respondent failed to properly maintain a check register for his client trust account, and failed to perform a reconciliation of the account periodically. The respondent did not dispute the underlying facts as to count one, and a hearing committee of the board (committee) agreed that the conduct violated Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.15 (f) (1) (B) and (E), as appearing in 440 Mass. 1338 (2004). The second count involved the respondent’s conduct in connection with the settlement of a client’s personal injury claim. The committee found that the respondent (1) failed to safeguard the client’s funds in a trust account, in violation of Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.15 (b) (1), as appearing in 440 Mass. 1338 (2004); (2) failed to pay the client the proceeds of her settlement promptly, in violation of Mass. R. Prof. C. 1.15 (c), as appearing in 440 Mass. 1338 (2004); (3) failed to provide the client with notice of withdrawal of his fee, the amount of the fee, an itemized bill for services rendered, and a balance of the client’s funds left in the account, in […]