D. Patrick Smitherman first requested $20,000, then $30,000 and ultimately $50,000 as a bonus, writing: “You don’t get something for nothing,” before releasing a hefty settlement check to a client.
But his refusal to release undisputed funds to his client put the Houston lawyer on the wrong side of the State Bar of Texas and earned Smitherman a three-year suspension from the practice of law, according to a recent decision by Houston’s First Court of Appeals.
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