IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA No. 20–0797 Submitted September 17, 2020—Filed January 8, 2021 IOWA SUPREME COURT ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY BOARD, Complainant, vs. MICHAEL H. SAID, Respondent. On review of the report of the Iowa Supreme Court Grievance Commission. The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board charged an attorney with multiple violations of the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct, including violations related to competence, diligence, promptness, client disclosures and communication, conflict of interest, and charging unreasonable fees, the grievance commission recommended public reprimand. LICENSE SUSPENDED. Appel, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which all participating justices joined. McDermott, J., took no part in the consideration or the decision of the case. Tara van Brederode and Crystal W. Rink, Des Moines, for complainant. Leon Spies of Spies & Pavelich, Iowa City, for respondent. 2 APPEL, Justice. The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board (Board) filed a complaint against attorney Michael Said alleging twenty-six violations of the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct arising out of representation of four clients in immigration matters. After a hearing, the Iowa Supreme Court Grievance Commission (commission) found that Said violated a number of disciplinary rules that require an attorney keep his client adequately informed about the representation. The commission further found that Said revealed client information without the client’s consent. The commission held that the remainder of the charges were not supported by a convincing preponderance of the evidence. As a result, the commission recommended that we publically reprimand Said. Based on our de novo review of the record, we suspend the license of Said for thirty days. I. Factual and Procedural Background. A. Introduction. Michael Said is an Iowa attorney admitted to the bar in 1994. His practice focuses on immigration law. Said formed his own law firm in 1999. He has engaged in pro bono representation over the years, and in 2006, he received an award for pro bono work from the Polk County Volunteer Lawyers Project. Said has a disciplinary history. In 2015, we imposed a thirty-day suspension on Said. Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Said, 869 N.W.2d 185, 195 (Iowa 2015). We concluded that Said violated our disciplinary rules related to keeping his client reasonably informed by failing to advise a client of the existence of a removal order and that the time to appeal had passed because the attorney had missed a deadline. Id. at 190–91; see also Iowa R. Prof’l Conduct 32:1.4(a)(3), (b). We also found that Said made a false statement to a tribunal and violated rules 3 relating to fees and trust accounts. Said, 869 N.W.2d at 191–93 (finding violations of Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct 32:3.3(a)(1), 32:1.15(c), and 32:1.15(f)). Said also received a public reprimand on June 25, 2015. The Board found that Said withdrew a flat fee from his trust account before it had been fully earned in violation of Iowa Rule of Professional Conduct 32:1.5(c). The Board also found language in a fee agreement utilized by Said that provided for a ...
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Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals