Immigration Attorney Avoids Disbarment for Commingling Funds

A Washington, D.C., immigration attorney will face suspension but not disbarment for misappropriating and commingling a client’s pre-paid flat fee, after the district’s top court on Thursday said his actions were merely negligent, not reckless or intentional.

The Office of Disciplinary Counsel charged Paul Haar with misappropriation and commingling in two separate cases involving two different clients, in violation of D.C. professional rules.

In 2000, the D.C. Bar began requiring that “advances of unearned fees…shall be treated as property of the client,” requiring that such property be kept separate from the lawyer’s property in a trust account “until earned…unless the ...