February 22, 2013 - Oregon State Bar

From: Chris Eggert
Date: March 8, 2011
Re: Client Security Fund Claim No. 2011-01
Claimant: Armando Flores-Salazar
Attorney: Keith Jordan
CLIENT SECURITY FUND
INVESTIGATION REPORT
(REVISED)
Investigator’s Recommendation
I recommend that the Committee deny in full the $10,000 claim.
Statement of the Claim
Armando Flores-Salazar submitted a claim on December 29, 2010, for reimbursement in
the amount of $10,000. Mr. Flores-Salazar claims he paid $15,000 to Mr. Jordan and asserts the
work performed has no value beyond $5,000.
Mr. Flores-Salazar was convicted following a four-day jury trial in Clackamas County
Circuit Court on November 17, 2006, of multiple felonies, for which he was sentenced to a
Measure 11 sentence of 75 months in prison. He is currently incarcerated and continues to
serve his sentence.
Shortly after Mr. Flores-Salazar was convicted, attorney Keith Jordan was hired to
represent him on appeal. Alicia Ramos, not the Claimant, signed a fee agreement for payment of
a $15,000 flat fee for Mr. Jordan to prepare the appeal and handle a restitution hearing. The fee
agreement provided that the fee was earned in full and non-refundable, except if a fee dispute
arose. Mr. Flores-Salazar reportedly paid the fee by withdrawing his 401(k) balance.
Mr. Jordan filed an appearance in Clackamas County Circuit Court, and filed a timely
Notice of Appeal in December 2006. In January 2007, Mr. Jordan filed in the Circuit Court a
motion for release pending appeal. A hearing was held on this motion on February 6, 2007; the
motion was denied. OJIN records that a restitution hearing was not held because the Court of
Appeals had jurisdiction over the case while the appeal was pending.
The transcript was not prepared until May 2007. The delay was due in part to the
transcriptionist’s fee of $2,400, which was required by the transcriptionist to be paid in
advance. Mr. Flores-Salazar’s family paid the transcriptionist in Spring 2007, and the transcript
was prepared and filed.
In a letter dated June 24, 2007, Mr. Jordan wrote to Mr. Flores-Salazar that he had been
suspended from the practice of law for 270 days. He further informed Mr. Flores-Salazar that
he could continue to work on the appeal after reinstatement, that the matter was considerably
more complicated than had been anticipated at the time he was hired for the appeal, and that