February 22, 2013 - Oregon State Bar

BOG Agenda Memo — CSF Claims Recommended for Payment
February 22, 2013 Page 2
provided that if the representation was terminated by the defendant prior to conclusion of the
case, Howlett would be entitled to a minimum fee equal to the greater of $950 or $200/hour.
Howlett represented Claimant at a DMV hearing, after which Claimant decided to go to
trial on the DUII charges and paid the remaining $950 of Howlett’s fee in March 2011. Trial was
scheduled for December 22, 2011 and Claimant met with Howlett three or four times over the
ensuing months. Howlett died from heart failure on October 20, 2011; Claimant retained
another lawyer to represent him at the trial, but was unable to recover any funds from
Howlett’s estate (Howlett had previously suffered from throat cancer and his widow claimed
that medical expenses had exhausted the family’s finances.) Claimant seeks reimbursement of
the $950 trial fee.
While there is no evidence that Howlett didn’t intend to complete the work when he
accepted the trial fee, and it was earned on receipt by the terms of the agreement, the CSF
nevertheless recommends reimbursing the Claimant since the services Howlett provided after
receipt of the trial fee were minimal. The Committee recommends an award of $750, allocating
$200 for the work Howlett did after the trial fee was paid.
No. 2012-80 KAUFMAN (Lite) - $1207.24
Claimant hired Lake Oswego lawyer Eric Kaufman on June 24, 2011 for representation in
the dissolution of client’s marriage. Claimant deposited a $2500 retainer against Kaufman’s
hourly fee of $198.75. Kaufman worked on the Claimant’s matter through early 2012. The
January 2012 statement shows a trust balance of $1306.61.
Claimant met with Kaufman for about half an hour on March 20, 2012 to review a draft
of the dissolution judgment prepared by the opposing attorney. Kaufman was going to forward
comments to the judgment to the other lawyer, but never did so. In mid-April (apparently
because he was unable to contact Kaufman) claimant sent an e-mail terminating Kaufman’s
services and demanding a return of the unused retainer. Kaufman never responded and
Claimant hired another attorney to complete the dissolution.
The CSF Committee concluded this claim is eligible for reimbursement because
Kaufman apparently failed to keep Claimant’s retainer in trust and has failed to refund any
portion of what he acknowledged was due to the client. The Committee recommends an award
of $1207.24, allocating $99.37 of the January 2012 retainer balance to the ½ hour of work
performed by Kaufman in March 2012.
No. 2012-15 GRUETTER (Gordon) - $50,000
Claimant retained Bend attorney Bryan Gruetter in April 2009 to pursue her injury
claims against a cosmetic surgery center. The case settled on March 25, 2011 for $250,000.
Gruetter deposited the settlement funds into his trust account and began negotiating with
Claimant’s medical providers for a reduction of their liens.