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_First Matter_
G.B. was charged with several felonies and a
misdemeanor and hired Attorney James E.
Toran to represent him on the charges. G.B.
entered into a plea agreement. The most
serious charge, kidnapping, was amended to a
less serious charge of false imprisonment.
G.B. was sentenced to 3 consecutive terms of
2 years and 6 months in prison, followed by
2 years and 6 months of extended
supervision, as well as a nine-month jail
sentence to be served concurrent to the
other sentences. Toran represented the G.B.
through sentencing.
G.B’s family members, on G.B.’s behalf, paid
Toran $1500.00 for the representation. No
written fee agreement was provided to G.B.
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By failing to provide G.B. with a written
fee agreement, Toran violated SCR 20:1.5(b)
(1), which states, “The scope of the
representation and the basis or rate of the
fee and expenses for which the client will
be responsible shall be communicated to the
client in writing, before or within a
reasonable time after commencing the
representation, except when the lawyer will
charge a regularly represented client on the
same basis or rate as in the past. If it is
reasonably foreseeable that the total cost
of the representation to the client,
including attorney’s fees, will be $1000 or
less, the communication may be oral or in
writing. Any changes in the basis or rate
of the fee or expenses shall also be
communicated in writing to the client.”
_Second Matter_
T.L. was charged with several drug-related
crimes. Attorney James E. Toran represented
T.L. on those charges. T.L. entered into a
plea agreement whereby he pled guilty to
three charges. An additional charge was
dismissed but read-in for sentencing
purposes. T.L. was sentenced to 15 years in
prison, followed by eight years of extended
supervision, on the most serious charge.
Toran represented T.L. through sentencing.
Toran never visited T.L. in jail. During
the course of the investigation, Toran
provided a billing summary that indicated
otherwise. Toran stated that he had
contacted the jail and was told the jail no
longer had a record of his visit. Toran
later produced T.L’s jail visiting records
for the relevant time. Those records did
not reflect any visits from Toran.
Despite repeated requests, including one
request made by telephone, Toran failed to
provide T.L. with a copy of the discovery in
his case. Toran finally did so after the
commencement of the investigation of T.L.’s
grievance.
Toran charged T.L. a flat fee of $2500 for
the representation. $1,000 was paid upon
T.L. hiring Toran. The remaining $1500 was
paid at sentencing. Toran never provided
T.L. with a written fee agreement.
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By failing to provide T.L. with discovery
materials despite requests that he do so,
Toran violated SCR 20:1.4(a)(4), which
states, “A lawyer shall promptly comply with
reasonable requests by the client for
information.”
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By failing to provide T.L. with a written
fee agreement, Toran violated SCR 20:1.5(b)
(1), which states, “The scope of the
representation and the basis or rate of the
fee and expenses for which the client will
be responsible shall be communicated to the
client in writing, before or within a
reasonable time after commencing the
representation, except when the lawyer will
charge a regularly represented client on the
same basis or rate as in the past. If it is
reasonably foreseeable that the total cost
of the representation to the client,
including attorney’s fees, will be $1000 or
less, the communication may be oral or in
writing. Any changes in the basis or rate
of the fee or expenses shall also be
communicated in writing to the client.”
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By indicating during the course of the
investigation that he had visited T.L. in
jail but the jail no longer had records of
his visit, when in fact the jail had records
of T.L’s visitors during the relevant time
but those records did not reflect a visit
from Toran, Toran violated SCR 22.03(6),
which states, “During the course of an
investigation, the respondent’s wilful
failure to provide relevant information, to
answer questions fully…and the respondent’s
misrepresentation in a disclosure are
misconduct, regardless of the merits of the
matters asserted in the grievance.”
_Third Matter_
Attorney James E. Toran represented A.S. on
one count of armed robbery. A.S. was
convicted of that charge and sentenced to 5
years in prison and 4 years of extended
supervision.
Following his conviction and sentencing, the
Office of the State Public Defender
appointed an attorney to serve as T.S.’s
appellate counsel.
By letters dated March 5, 2010 and July16,
2010, appellate counsel requested A.S.’s
file from Toran. Appellate counsel’s July
16, 2010 letter indicated that he had also
attempted to reach Toran by phone to make
the request.
Toran failed to respond to appellate
counsel’s requests and in September of 2010,
A.S. filed a grievance with the Office of
Lawyer Regulation (OLR).
On November 8, 2010, appellate counsel
informed OLR that Toran had recently dropped
A.S.’s file off at appellate counsel’s
office.
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By failing to respond appellate counsel’s
communications requesting A.S’s file, and by
failing to promptly deliver A.S’s file to
appellate counsel, Toran violated SCR 20:1.16
(d), which states, “Upon termination of
representation, a lawyer shall take steps to
the extent reasonably practicable to protect
a client's interests, such as giving
reasonable notice to the client, allowing
time for employment of other counsel,
surrendering papers and property to which
the client is entitled and refunding any
advance payment of fee or expense that has
not been earned or incurred. The lawyer may
retain papers relating to the client to the
extent permitted by other law.”
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In 1989, Toran’s license to practice law was
suspended for 6 months. In 1991, he was
publicly reprimanded. In 2007, he received
a private reprimand.
In accordance with SCR 22.09(3), Attorney
James E. Toran is hereby publicly
reprimanded.
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