Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel v. Miller, 335 Conn. 474 (2020)

Citation: Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel v. Miller, 335 Conn. 474 (2020)
Parent Document: Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel v. Miller, 335 Conn. 474 (2020)
Jurisdiction: Connecticut (state)
Effective Date: 2020-04-27
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4801014/office-of-chief-disciplinary-co... ↗

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respondent’s representation of her. At the presentment
hearing, the respondent credibly testified that she orally
advised Williams that there were some restrictions on
her ability to represent her before the Appellate Court.
However, her oral advisement was completely inconsis-
tent with the express terms of the retainer letter, which
made no reference whatsoever as to any limitations
placed upon her by the Appellate Court. Such conflict-
ing information made it impossible for Williams to make
an informed decision regarding the respondent’s repre-
sentation of her. The tangible impact of this was exem-
plified through the respondent’s inability to file an
appearance in the Appellate Court on Williams’ behalf.
Because of this, the respondent did not receive any
notices from the Appellate Court relative to the case
and had to rely upon Hardy for information as to the
status of the case. After traveling out of the country to
Africa for several weeks from late December, 2016, to
sometime in January, 2017, it was only upon her return
that she learned from Hardy that the motion to file a
late appeal had been denied. By the time the respondent
could consult with Williams, the period to seek any
further appeal to the Supreme Court had passed.
Notably, Hardy also testified at the hearing that he
and the respondent had been involved in a similar
arrangement relative to an appeal to the Appellate Court
involving an individual by the name of Darric M.9 [Tr.
2 22:21–23:4, 48:10–50:2, 51:5–52:11, Hardy]. In that
instance, while the respondent was under suspension
by the Appellate Court, it was agreed that Hardy would
file the appearance with the court and physically appear
while the respondent would do work similar to what
was described relative to the Williams matter. This,
9
The court takes judicial notice of the matter of Jordan M. v. Darric M.,
Superior Court, judicial district of New Haven, Docket No. FA-XX-XXXXXXX-
S, as well as the Appellate Court case, Jordan M. v. Darric M., 168 Conn.
App. 314, 146 A.3d 1041, cert. denied, 324 Conn. 902, 151 A.3d 1287 (2016).
Page 60 CONNECTICUT LAW JOURNAL November 3, 2020

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