People v. Stephen S. Wills. 16PDJ088. May 17, 2017. The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ conditional admission of misconduct and suspended Stephen S. Wills (attorney registration number 32691) for three years, effective May 17, 2017. The parties stipulated that Wills suffers from depression and that his depression mitigated his misconduct. Wills is required to pay restitution in the amount of $5,424.00 to two of his former clients.
Wills’s misconduct stems from nine client representations that unfolded between March 2014 and April 2016, during which he engaged in a pattern of neglect, lack of communication and abandonment. He also knowingly converted funds. He later failed to respond to the disciplinary attorney’s request for investigation.
In those matters, Wills violated Colo. RPC 1.3 (a lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness when representing a client); 1.4(a)(3) (a lawyer shall keep a client reasonably informed about the status of the matter; 1.4(a)(4) (a lawyer shall promptly comply with reasonable requests for information); 1.4(b) (a lawyer shall explain a matter so as to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation); 1.5(a) (prohibiting a lawyer from charging an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses); 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); 1.15A (a lawyer shall hold client property separate from the lawyer’s own property); 1.16(a)(2) (a lawyer shall withdraw from representation if the lawyer’s physical or mental condition materially impairs the lawyer’s ability to represent the client); 1.16(c) (a lawyer shall seek a tribunal’s permission to withdraw); 1.16(d) (a lawyer shall protect a client’s interests upon termination of the representation, including by giving reasonable notice to the client and returning unearned fees and any papers and property to which the client is entitled); 3.2 (a lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation consistent with the interest of the client); 3.4(c) (a lawyer shall not knowingly disobey an obligation under the rules of a tribunal); 8.1(b) (a lawyer shall not knowingly fail to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary authority); 8.4(c) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation); and 8.4(d) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice).