Court suspends license of Iowa City lawyer

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Iowa Supreme Court suspended the license of an Iowa City lawyer for 30 days for violating client account procedures and other rules in connection with his representation of one client.

Frank Santiago, who has practiced personal injury and criminal law since 1995, was audited by the Client Security Commission in 2011 and found Santiago didn't reconcile his trust account on a monthly basis, as required, and he hadn't done any kind of accounting since 2007, according to the ruling. His bank statements also showed Santiago had made prohibited cash withdrawals from the account.

The purpose of the trust account is to hold a client's retainer or other money needed for their legal case and it should only be withdrawn as the work is completed. The audit showed Santiago didn't make any written accountings to clients when he withdrew funds from their trusts.

The commission did a follow up audit and Santiago's records were in better shape but he still didn't have a complete check register, according to the ruling. The auditor explained to Santiago the need for individual client ledgers and showed him how to complete the required reconciliations.

The audit didn't show any evidence of misappropriated funds and no disciplinary action was taken.

Santiago then defended Joseph Moreno, who was intoxicated and pointed a loaded Glock 9 mm handgun at his roommate, the ruling states. He then fired shots in their apartment, drove to Coral Ridge Mall and crashed his SUV into the glass entrance at Scheels All Sports.

Moreno paid Santiago $100 for the initial conference and then $2,500 in cash for a retainer, the ruling states. Santiago admitted to the grievance board that he never put the retainer in a trust account and gave Moreno a handwritten receipt on the back of a business card.

A month later, Moreno contacted another lawyer and decided to dismiss Santiago. The other lawyer told the board she called Santiago to request a final accounting of his work and asked him to return any unused retainer funds and then sent him a follow up letter.

A few months later, the ruling states, Santiago gave Moreno an accounting of the work done, claiming he put in 28 hours for $4,275 and offered to waive the $1,775 balance Moreno owed him. The other lawyer drafted a letter disputing the charges on behalf of Moreno and asked Santiago to hold $1,250 in Moreno's trust account until it could be resolved.

Santiago was again audited in 2013 after he said in a client security report that he hadn't been reconciling his trust account. The auditor said Santiago had again been making cash withdrawals from the trust account without a client ledgers, a check register or monthly reconciliations.

The auditor told the court he spent nearly forty hours auditing Santiago and assisting him with bringing his records up to date. He said Santiago was cooperative and honest, and he didn't see any evidence of misappropriation.

Santiago told the court he felt a private or public reprimand was appropriate. The grievance commission recommended a 60 day suspension, but the court found 30 days was the appropriate sanction.