Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Lonnie B. Saunders

MANSFIELD, Justice.

This attorney disciplinary proceeding requires us to address the recurring problem of attorneys who take premature probate fees. Before work was completed on an estate-in fact, over a year before the final report was filed and the court costs were paid-an attorney billed and collected the second half of his probate fee. Notably, the attorney had been publicly reprimanded for the same type of misconduct just a year and a half earlier.

The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board (Board) charged the attorney with violating several rules, including Iowa Rules of…