This disciplinary matter is before the Court on Respondent Harry L. Trauffer’s Petition for Voluntary Discipline, filed pursuant to Bar Rules 4-210 d and 4-227 c in which Trauffer admits violating Standards 12 lawyer shall not solicit professional employment as a private practitioner for himself, his partner or associate through direct personal contact with a non-lawyer who has not sought his advice regarding employment of a lawyer; 22 lawyer shall not withdraw from employment without taking reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to the rights of his client; 23 lawyer who withdraws from employment shall refund promptly any part of a fee paid in advance that has not been earned; and 26 lawyer shall not share legal fees with a non-lawyer of Bar Rule 4-102 d. The State Bar filed two Formal Complaints against Trauffer in State Disciplinary Board “SDB” Docket Nos. 3861 and 3960. These complaints were properly served on Trauffer and he filed timely answers. Following the appointment of a special master, but before an evidentiary hearing was held in these matters, Trauffer filed his Petition for Voluntary Discipline admitting the violations alleged in the complaints. In his petition Trauffer requests the imposition of a public reprimand as an appropriate sanction in SDB Docket No. 3960 and the imposition of a six-month suspension as an appropriate sanction in SDB Docket No. 3861. Although violations of Standards 12 and 26 may be punishable by disbarment, the State Bar and the special master recommend that this Court accept Trauffer’s petition.
In regard to SDB Docket No. 3861, Trauffer admits that he violated Standard 12 when he directed members of his non-lawyer staff to solicit professional employment for him through direct personal contact by telephone with non-lawyers who had not sought his advice regarding employment of a lawyer. Trauffer also admits violating Standard 26 when he shared fees he collected from clients in non-litigation civil collection cases with members of his non-lawyer staff. In regard to SDB Docket No. 3960, Trauffer agrees that he violated Standard 22 when he withdrew from representing a client in a criminal matter without taking reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to the client’s rights and admits that he violated Standard 23 when he did not promptly refund the fee the client paid him which was not earned.
