People v. Douglas P. Allen Jr. 18PDJ057. September 28, 2018. The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ conditional admission of misconduct and suspended Douglas P. Allen Jr. (attorney registration number 21079) for sixty days, all to be stayed, subject to the successful completion of a one-year period of probation during which he must attend ethics school. The probation took effect on September 28, 2018.
In early 2017, a client retained Allen in a personal injury matter. In February 2017, Allen sent his personal injury client and eleven other clients an email containing contact information for a pain management doctor and advising the clients to schedule individual appointments with the doctor to help their legal cases. Without the clients’ permission, Allen then sent the doctor the clients’ contact information.
In July 2017, Allen began settlement negotiations with an insurance company on behalf of his personal injury client, including sending the insurance company a demand letter. He did so without the client’s authorization to negotiate or settle the client’s claim. On August 1, 2017, Allen advised his client that the insurance company had made a settlement demand, and he forwarded to his client emails between him and the insurance company concerning settlement negotiations. The next day, after receiving a copy of Allen’s initial demand letter, his client objected that he had not consulted with her before making a demand and that she was unaware of ongoing negotiations. The same day, Allen terminated his representation.
Through this conduct, Allen violated Colo. RPC 1.2(a) (a lawyer must abide by the client’s decisions concerning the objectives of a case and consult with the client regarding the means to achieve the objectives); Colo. RPC 1.4(a)(3) (a lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of the matter); and Colo. RPC 1.6(a) (a lawyer shall not reveal information relating to the representation of a client unless the client gives informed consent).