People v. George M. Allen. 20PDJ048. June 21, 2021. The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ conditional admission of misconduct and suspended George M. Allen (attorney registration number 02080) for two years. The suspension takes effect on August 2, 2021. To be reinstated, Allen must prove by clear and convincing evidence that he has been rehabilitated, has complied with disciplinary orders and rules, and is fit to practice law.
Beginning in 2017, Allen represented members of a family and their closely held corporation in litigation brought by another shareholder of the corporation. He did not provide his clients with a written fee agreement when he started the representation. During the litigation, Allen’s clients developed conflicting interests, but he did not obtain their written informed consent to continue the representation. He also failed to correct a statement of material fact included in a court filing after that statement was no longer true.
Allen represented another client in multiple legal proceedings despite having a close personal relationship with her, which created a conflict of interest. Allen also provided the client financial assistance while her cases were ongoing. In one of the proceedings, the court dismissed the case and sanctioned Allen after finding that the claims he had asserted were frivolous and vexatious. A court in another proceeding disqualified Allen from representing his client because he was likely to be a necessary witness. In a third case for the client—a criminal matter—he failed to exercise reasonable diligence and promptness.
Through this conduct, Allen violated Colo. RPC 1.3 (a lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness when representing a client); Colo. RPC 1.5(b) (a lawyer shall inform a client in writing about the lawyer’s fees and expenses within a reasonable time after being retained, if the lawyer has not regularly represented the client); Colo. RPC 1.7(a)(1) (a lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation will be directly adverse to another client); Colo. RPC 1.7(a)(2) (a lawyer shall not represent a client if the representation involves a concurrent conflict of interest); Colo. RPC 1.8(e) (a lawyer shall not provide financial assistance to a client in connection with a pending or contemplated litigation); Colo. RPC 3.1 (a lawyer shall not assert frivolous claims); Colo. RPC 3.3(a)(1) (a lawyer shall not fail to correct a false statement of material fact previously made to a tribunal by the lawyer); and Colo. RPC 3.7 (a lawyer shall not act as advocate at a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a necessary witness).
The case file is public per C.R.C.P. 251.31.