In re Billewicz - 161 Vt. 631, 641 A.2d 368 (1994)

Rule:

Disclosure of secrets of client warrants public reprimand.

Facts:

Five months after respondent attorney Lillian E. Billewicz was admitted to the Vermont Bar, she undertook representation of plaintiffs in a complicated personal injury action. Respondent had not filed all of her clients' claims within the statute of limitations period. The parties stipulated that respondent violated Vt. Code Prof. Resp. DR 6-101(A)(2) for handling a legal matter without adequate preparation and Vt. Code Prof. Resp. DR 6-101(A)(3) for neglecting a legal matter entrusted to her. After the respondent determined that her clients were attempting to have perpetuated a fraud, she filed a motion to withdraw, including an affidavit that needlessly detailed and disclosed numerous secrets and confidences of her clients. 

Issue:

Was the respondent's manner of withdrawing proper?

Answer:

No.

Conclusion:

The court held that although this may have been the correct ethical conclusion on respondent’s part, she erred in the way she withdrew. The court held that the motion became a public document. Hence, such unauthorized disclosure of confidential information violated Vt. Code Prof. Resp. DR 4-101(B)(1), which even an inexperienced practitioner should have known. However, the court held that the attorney's failings appeared to have been attributable more to her inexperience than her lack of commitment and her state of mind was nothing more culpable than negligence. Thus, the court concluded that the proper sanction was a public reprimand and one year of probation in the Board's attorney disciplinary proceeding.