NY attorney suspended three years for misconduct

An Oneida County attorney was suspended for three years for professional misconduct.

Mark Steven Barnes was admitted to practice law in the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Third Department, in January 1989.

The Grievance Committee of the Fifth Judicial District filed a petition alleging six charges of professional misconduct against Barnes, including neglecting client matters, commingling personal funds with client funds, and failing to cooperate in the grievance investigation.

Barnes was served with the petition in May, but he did not file an answer. As a result, the Grievance Committee filed a motion for an order finding Barnes in default.

The motion was served on Barnes on Sept. 15, but he did not file a response and did not appear on the return date.

Consequently, on Oct. 28, the Fourth Department granted the Grievance Committee’s motion, found Barnes in default, deemed the charges of misconduct admitted to.

Barnes never responded.

In early 2023, Barnes accepted $5,000 to represent several siblings in a legal matter without a retainer agreement or letter of engagement that specified the scope of the representation or the fee.

He subsequently failed to respond to numerous inquiries from the clients, prompting them to file a grievance complaint in August 2023.

In September 2022, Barnes agreed to represent several siblings in relation to their father’s estate, but he failed to respond to numerous inquiries from the clients.

Although he eventually resumed communicating with the clients and accepted $2,900 in legal fees in June 2023, he subsequently ceased all communication, which led to a grievance complaint in October 2023.

In 2019, Barnes agreed to represent a client in a domestic relations matter without executing a retainer agreement. And he failed to send any billing statements to the client.

After receiving proceeds from the sale of a client’s marital residence, Barnes withheld $2,500 for his purported legal fee. Afterward he failed to respond to several inquiries from the client about the status of the matter and the propriety of the fee.

In August 2022, he agreed to represent several siblings in relation to their father’s estate, and accepted $2,500 for his legal fee and $1,941.76 for anticipated costs and disbursements.

The clients sent him numerous inquiries about notices they received from the County Clerk requiring that the estate file a list of its assets. Barnes did not respond to the inquiries and did not file the list of assets, prompting the clients to file a grievance complaint in March 2024.

Barnes failed to respond to numerous inquiries from the Grievance Committee about the matter or to comply with a subpoena issued by the Fourth Department directing him to produce certain documents to the Committee.

In December 2022, the Grievance Committee issued a confidential admonition to him after finding that he violated certain rules governing attorney trust accounts by failing to account to clients regarding their funds and commingling personal funds with client funds.

Barnes told the Committee that he would remove personal funds from the account and remit any unclaimed client funds to the Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection. But he failed to resolve those issues.

“We conclude that respondent should be suspended from the practice of law for a period of three years and until further order of this Court,” the Fourth Department ruled.

“In addition, in the event that (Barnes) applies to this Court for reinstatement to the practice of law, his application must sufficiently explain the circumstances of his default in this matter,” the Fourth Department wrote.

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