PUBLIC REPRIMAND
On January 31, 2005, the Chair of the Ethics and Discipline Committee of the Utah Supreme Court entered an Order of Discipline: Public Reprimand against S. Austin Johnson for violation of Rules 1.2 (Scope of Representation), 1.3 (Diligence), 1.4(a) (Communication), 1.5(a) (Fees), and 8.4(a) (Misconduct) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
In summary:
Mr. Johnson was retained by a client in an immigration matter. The client instructed Mr. Johnson not to apply for a TN visa because the client wanted permanent residency. Mr. Johnson sent the client an engagement letter stating that he would pursue and conduct research on a TN visa. The client communicated the discrepancy, but Mr. Johnson did nothing to rectify the error. Mr. Johnson missed a deadline for filing an application for a H-1B visa. The draft documents for the H-1B visa were sent to the client for approval after the deadline. Mr. Johnson did not keep his client reasonably informed of the status of the matter and did not promptly comply with requests for information. Mr. Johnson charged the client for research on a TN visa when he was specifically instructed not to pursue that visa and he failed to complete the entire application.
Aggravating factors include: Mr. Johnson failed to appear at the Screening Panel hearing pursuant to Rule 32 of the Rules of Lawyer Discipline and Disability; Mr. Johnson refuses to acknowledge the wrongful nature of the misconduct involved; Mr. Johnson lacked a good faith effort to rectify the consequences of the misconduct, in particular conducting and billing for the TN visa research; failure to communicate with the client in a reasonable manner and instead, continued to make demands throughout this proceeding for work that was not requested; and Mr. Johnson failed to resolve/communicate, and instead made demands through this proceeding that the client owed him for the TN application, which was not requested and not done.