Grievances stacked up unheeded

FLINT - So many people have complained about attorney Shannon H. Pitcher's erratic behavior, she could have had her own mailbox at Michigan's Attorney Grievance Commission.

But the agency that polices Michigan lawyers never stopped Pitcher from practicing law, In fact, it has never even publicly reprimanded her despite warnings from citizens, police, a prosecutor and at least one judge.

Despite a history of unsatisfied clients and a mountain of personal legal problems, Pitcher still has an unblemished record with the commission two months after her arrest on charges she stole from the clients she was appointed to protect.

Even her own attorney is surprised by the lack of action.

Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said the commission has moved so slowly that investigators were forced to charge Pitcher with a crime sooner than they wanted just to get the lawyer out of the courtroom. A judge has since ordered her to stop practicing law as a condition of her bond.

"I put them on notice, and even after I did that, she continued to take cases and practice law," Pickell said. "They do a disservice to all the good lawyers when they allow (her) to continue conning, scamming and fleecing people."

Only the commission and Pitcher know how many times clients have complained about some of the same issues that eventually led to the criminal charges against her.

The nine-member commission - made up of six attorneys and three nonlawyers - oversees an agency of attorneys who quietly investigate complaints against other lawyers, forwarding the worst cases of misconduct or incompetence to the state Attorney Discipline Board for action.

Complaints are considered confidential by Michigan court rules and the Grievance Commission, and the public never finds out about the vast majority of allegations against attorneys because they don't result in public discipline. More than 95 percent of the complaints lodged in 2005 did not result in discipline.

Six people, however, have detailed their complaints against Pitcher to The Flint Journal, and some say the process intended to weed out problem attorneys has shown itself flawed.

Flint native Theodore A. Golden is using his Web site, www.tagolden.com, to push for a constitutional amendment to let voters, not the state Supreme Court, choose who sits on the Grievance Commission.

"How can a grievance board see this stuff in black and white and not act on it?" said Nancy Erickson, who filed a formal complaint more than two years ago, claiming Pitcher bungled her parents financial affairs when she acted as conservator for them and later falsified documents to cover her tracks.

"I just really think it's a tragedy. She could have been stopped. How many people suffered after I filed that (complaint)?"

James W. Metz, associate counsel for the commission, said he can't discuss how complaints against Pitcher were handled or even acknowledge that anyone has ever complained about her.

Keeping the complaints private is only fair and required by court rules, Metz and others said, because anyone can make a baseless complaint, including disgruntled clients who didn't like how a legal dispute played out or how much they were billed.

"Private investigations are just that," said Metz. "I can't talk to you about private information. ... I can't divulge even the existence of an investigation."

Using the Freedom of Information Act, The Journal obtained letters to the commission from Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton and Pickell. Each advised the commission about four months ago about the embezzlements they allege Pitcher committed, but the agency took no public action to keep her out of the courtroom.

Pitcher, 35, was arraigned Dec. 11. She was charged with four felony counts tied to her alleged embezzlement of at least $500,000 from clients. She has told investigators that the embezzlement came at a time when she was being blackmailed by a man who threatened to make a sex tape of her public.

Leyton said he was recently told the commission won't decide on pending grievances against Pitcher until the criminal case against her is resolved.

Neither the prosecutor nor Genesee Probate Judge Jennie E. Barkey would comment on the Grievance Commission's handling of the Pitcher complaints. But Pickell said the organization could have done more to protect the public.

The sheriff's Oct. 17 letter to the commission detailed a criminal investigation of Pitcher, including Pickell's contention that she had already taken responsibility for forging court documents, embezzling thousands of dollars from at least 12 clients and commingling money.

Nancy Wonch, a professor of professional responsibility at Cooley Law School, said the system of disciplining attorneys is fair, but it can be slow.

Wonch spent six years as a member of the Attorney Discipline Board, which can suspend and revoke licenses if the Grievance Commission brings a complaint forward.

"It's one thing to bring a case. It's another to prove it," she said. "Sometimes complaints are made, but there isn't the (evidence)."

Wonch said it wouldn't be fair for the commission to make public how many complaints have been filed against attorneys when there is no evidence to make a case of wrongdoing.

"The complaints aren't proven, so why should that person get tarred with that brush?" she asked.

Pitcher's attorney, David Grant, said he's never been contacted by the commission and isn't aware of any effort to discipline her -something that could have forced her to notify clients, for example, that they should make other arrangements for an attorney to represent them.

"I think that's unusual. ... I've been looking out of the corner of my eye, thinking something (like that) was going to happen," Grant said.

One of the things Grant said he expected that never occurred was the appointment of a receiver to coordinate Pitcher's active court files.

Instead, local court officials and volunteer attorneys have attempted to handle those cases without help from the commission, which Erickson said has sheltered Pitcher from harm.

Pitcher filed a five-page response to allegations against her by Erickson, saying Erickson violated courts orders by moving her parents out of Michigan and that she tried to pay bills when her clients had money was available.

Earlier this year, Erickson brought her mother, Irene Menosky, from Wisconsin so that she could live her last days in Flint, where she was born.

Erickson took her mother to Wisconsin after complaining about Pitcher's handling of her finances. Her father, a retired maintenance worker for the Flint School District, died in August 2004.

James E. Schmidt, 60, also complained to the commission about Pitcher after hiring her to represent him in four civil cases in Livingston County.

Schmidt claimed Pitcher repeatedly failed to appear in court after he hired her in June 2004. Four days after Erickson filed her grievance late in 2004, Schmidt also filed a complaint, asking the agency to protect others from Pitcher.

"We have lost assets that could have been saved in the trust by her lack of attorney duty," Schmidt said in a letter to the commission. "Shannon claimed that her expertise was in probate and real estate. However, it is clear she uses that claim to lure vulnerable people into her trap so she can get what she can from them financially as long as she can."

Schmidt blamed Pitcher for losing a Livingston County farm that had been owned by his family since the 1930s, partly because she didn't show up for court hearings.

"I was getting calls (from the court) asking, 'What happened to your attorney?'" Schmidt said. "A couple of times, we drove all the way from Traverse City to Flint to pick up court papers and would drive over to Howell to file them."

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A history of trouble

The Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission won't comment on pending complaints against Shannon H. Pitcher or those that were dismissed or privately resolved. Pitcher has an unblemished record with the commission even though she is facing criminal charges for embezzlement and several people have filed ethics complaints against her. Here's a closer look: