An Iowa lawyer has agreed to the suspension of her license due to inaction on an immigration case for a client who now faces deportation. (Photo by Getty Images)
A state panel is recommending that an Iowa attorney’s license be suspended due to her prolonged inaction on the immigration case of a client who now faces the “devastating” prospect of deportation.
Court records indicate attorney Melinda Roman of Spirit Lake has consented to a six-month suspension of her license. Noting that Roman self-reported her actions, the Iowa Supreme Court’s Attorney Disciplinary Board is recommending a three-month suspension of her license.
Roman is charged with violating ethics rules related to the abandonment of a client’s case and failure to safeguard client funds. She declined to comment on the matter when contacted Wednesday by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.
According to the board, Roman first met the client, identified in court records by the initials K.P.G., in 2018 when K.P.G. was a child and had been in the United States for only two months.
At that point, Roman collected $650 from K.P.G. to help him obtain “documented” status that would enable him to legally remain in the United States. In February 2023, Roman collected an additional $500 from K.P.G. to assist with his immigration case and his efforts to obtain a work permit.
Rather than place the payments in a client trust account from which she could make periodic withdrawals as payment for earned fees, Roman allegedly placed the money in an office filing cabinet.
“Aside from the partial paperwork Roman prepared when K.P.G. met with her in 2018, she apparently did no other work over a five-year time period,” the board alleges. “Roman consistently — and to dire effect — failed to perform obligations she assumed on K.P.G.’s behalf.”
During those five years, the board says, Roman also failed to respond to multiple text messages from K.P.G. and failed to provide him with any updates on his case. Her actions “effectively disallowed K.P.G. from ever achieving documented status” in the United States, the board alleges.
“K.P.G. suffered grievous harm due to Roman’s misconduct,” the board alleges. “He now has no avenue to obtain legal status, and he is subject to removal from the United States … K.P.G. is forever barred from obtaining the immigration relief he sought Roman’s help in obtaining.”
The Iowa Supreme Court has yet to act on the board’s recommendation.
In 2021, the board publicly reprimanded Roman for neglecting a different client’s immigration residency application.