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Payment. A lawyer failed to take the required actions to proceed with an appeal from a decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals because his client had not paid the agreed upon fee. When the fee was paid, a year after the appeal had been dismissed, the attorney sought to reinstate the appeal and recall the mandate.

Judge Newman, while appalled that an attorney would think that he had no ethical obligation to proceed with an appeal after accepting some money and entering into a retainer agreement, granted the motion, stating that "it seems unfair to penalize the client because of his lawyer's conduct." A copy of the file was transmitted to the Grievance Committee of the Circuit for such action as it sees appropriate.

The decision in Bennett v. Mukasey can be found here.

Full post as published by Second Opinions on May 13, 2008 (boomark / email).