|
|
Please note: Opinion summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information for the general public and news media. Opinion summaries are not prepared for every opinion released by the Court, but only for those cases considered noteworthy or of great public interest. Opinion summaries are not to be considered as official headnotes or syllabi of Court opinions. The full text of this and other Court opinions from 1992 to the present are available online from the Reporter of Decisions: http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/ROD/newpdf/. In the Full Text search box, enter the eight-digit case number at the top of this summary and click "Submit."
In separate disciplinary actions announced today, the Supreme Court of Ohio permanently disbarred attorney Steven E. Zigan of Lancaster and suspended the license of attorney Katherine E. Jackel of Ann Arbor, MI for two years.
2007-1973. Disciplinary Counsel v. Zigan, Slip Opinion No. 2008-Ohio-1976.
On Certified Report by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, No. 07-027. Steven Earl Zigan, Attorney Registration No. 0071793, is permanently disbarred from the practice of law in Ohio.
Moyer, C.J., and Pfeifer, Lundberg Stratton, O'Connor, O'Donnell, Lanzinger, and Cupp, JJ., concur.
Opinion: http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-Ohio-1976.pdf
(May 1, 2008) The license of Lancaster attorney Steven Zigan has been permanently revoked for multiple violations of state attorney discipline rules.
The Supreme Court adopted findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline that, on multiple occasions, Zigan accepted checks from clients for legal fees owed to the law firm where he was employed, but converted those payments to his own use rather than depositing them in the firm’s account, and forged clients’ signatures on fictitious contingent fee agreements that he placed in the firm’s case files to conceal his misappropriations. The Court also found that in multiple cases Zigan had abandoned or failed to complete legal work for which he had accepted payment from clients, and that he made false statements and otherwise failed to cooperate with disciplinary authorities during the investigation and prosecution of his misconduct.
Contacts
Carol A. Costa, 614.461.0256, for
the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
Steven E. Zigan, pro se: No current contact information available.
2007-2299. Ohio State Bar Assn. v. Jackel, Slip Opinion No. 2008-Ohio-1981.
On Certified Report by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, No. 07-056. Katherine E. Jackel, Attorney Registration No. 0077384, is suspended from the practice of law in Ohio for two years.
Moyer, C.J., and Pfeifer, Lundberg Stratton, O'Connor, O'Donnell, Lanzinger, and Cupp, JJ., concur.
Opinion: http://www.supremecourtofohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2008/2008-Ohio-1981.pdf
(May 1, 2008) The Supreme Court of Ohio has suspended the law license of attorney Katherine E. Jackel, who currently resides in Ann Arbor, Mich., for two years for professional misconduct arising from her improper business relationship with a financial services company. The Court accepted a joint consent-to-discipline agreement submitted by Jackel and the Ohio State Bar Association in which she admitted violating multiple provisions of the Code of Professional Responsibility by improperly accepting client referrals and sharing legal fees with United Financial Systems Corporation, a private business engaged in direct-mail marketing of estate planning documents.
The company followed up on consumer responses to its mailings by sending non-attorney representatives to obtain financial information from clients and “sell” them United Financials products. After the client had already been advised about estate planning issues by a non-attorney and had paid for the company’s products, Jackel received the client’s file, completed and signed legal documents already purchased by the consumer, and sent them back to United Financial in exchange for a percentage of the consumer’s fee, without meeting or giving independent legal advice to the “client” purchasing the documents.
Contacts
Jennifer Hill, 614.827.7300, for
the Ohio State Bar Association.
Gregory D. Brunton, 614.228.1311, for Katherine E. Jackel.