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An Iowa attorney with a history of private admonitions is appealing a recommendation that her law license be suspended for failure to respond to a client’s inquiries.
The Grievance Commission of the Supreme Court of Iowa, which hears disciplinary cases brought by the Attorney Disciplinary Board, is recommending that the court suspend for 30 days the law license of Carmen Eichmann of Des Moines.
The board has alleged that Eichmann violated seven professional standards in her representation of one client when she failed to respond to the man’s inquiries about his case, his legal bills and his desire for a refund.
According to the commission, Eichmann’s explanation for why she didn’t provide copies of the bills requested by her client was, “Because he had the information. I knew there was something going on by this. I did not trust him at all.”
However, the commission found that through her testimony at a disciplinary hearing, Eichmann had “acknowledged mistakes and failures made during her representation” of her client.
In recommending a 30-day suspension of Eichmann’s license, the commission cited her disciplinary history as an indicator of a pattern of misconduct. According to the commission, the Attorney Disciplinary Board privately admonished Eichmann in 2008, 2011, 2018 and 2020.
On Sept. 18, one day after the commission issued its recommendation for a suspension of Eichmann’s law license, her attorney, David L. Brown, notified the board and the commission that he and his client are appealing the commission’s recommendation.
Brown said Monday he strongly disagrees with the commission’s findings and feels the matter should have been dismissed.