Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Bryan J. Humphrey

MANSFIELD, Justice.

An attorney was retained on a contingent fee basis to obtain a settlement from an insurance company. The attorney failed to put his agreement with his clients in writing. He subsequently allowed the matter to languish and did not respond to repeated inquiries from the clients. He also failed to respond to inquiries from the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board after the clients filed a complaint. We now have to decide whether the attorney violated our ethical rules and, if so, what the sanction should be.

This case comes before us on the report of a division of the…