PEOPLE v. ROBERTS, 03SA367 (Colo.O.P.D.J. 10-1-2004)

No. 03SA367 (consolidated with 04PDJ061).Office of the Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Supreme Court of Colorado.
October 1, 2004.

Attorney Regulation.
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved the parties’ Conditional Admission of Misconduct and suspended Respondent Kenneth A.B. Roberts, Jr., attorney registration number 14275, from the practice of law in the State of Colorado, retroactive to March 25, 2004, for a period of one year and one day. Respondent pled guilty to a deferred judgment of second-degree misdemeanor theft. This conduct violated C.R.C.P. 251.5 (b) (lawyer’s criminal misconduct) and RPC 8.4 (b) (conduct adversely reflecting on lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness to practice law). Respondent also failed to self-report his conviction in violation of C.R.C.P. 251.20 (b). In another matter, Respondent was determined to have been negligent when he represented both a steering committee of pilots and individual pilots pursuing claims against their employer. This conduct violated Colo. RPC 1.15 (a) and Colo. RPC 8.4 (c). Respondent also failed to deposit into his COLTAF account a small portion of the fees paid by the steering committee before these funds were earned, in violation of Colo. RPC 1.15 (a) and 8.4 (c). Respondent violated Colo. RPC 1.16 (d) when he did not withdraw from representing the pilots once requested to do so. He violated Colo. 1.16 and 1.6 when he negligently revealed confidential information without client consent. In disclosing client information, Respondent also disobeyed a court order in violation of RPC 3.4 (c). Respondent was ordered to pay the costs of this proceeding.