On Monday, September 26, 2022, the Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Arizona Supreme Court ordered the reprimand of Phoenix attorney Charley Lawrence Laman in relation to charges for attorney discipline alleging negligence and failure to act with reasonable diligence in representing a client which caused injury to said client.

The case, titled In the matter of a member of Charley Lawrence Laman, was brought by the State Bar of Arizona. Case number  #2022-9041.

The charges cited rules of professional conduct 1.3 and 8.4(d) of the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct, which state:

A lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client.

It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.

The rules of professional conduct can be found here.

The following are as alleged and stipulated in the Agreement for Discipline by Consent:

In June 2021, Respondent failed to appear for a scheduled hearing of a landlord-tenant case. The hearing resulted in a judgment against Reynolds, his client in the amount of $7,916.47 plus accruing costs. Respondent reasoned that he had miscalendared the hearing date. Thereafter, respondent filed a motion to set aside the judgment that was denied. He further advised Reynolds to file bankruptcy forgetting that Reynolds was not eligible as she had already filed bankruptcy and Respondent had been her lawyer. Later, his client filed the bar charge in October 2021. Respondent offered to pay the judgment entered against her but Respondent made no payment towards Reynolds’s judgment on April 24, 2022. Respondent also failed to respond to the State Bar’s request for information.

On September 19, 2022, the State Bar and Respondent filed an Agreement for Discipline by Consent, where Respondent conditionally admits that his conduct violated the Rules of Professional Conduct as charged.

With the foregoing facts and discussions, the presiding disciplinary judge accepted the Agreement for Discipline by Consent.

The Disposition reads:

“IT IS ORDERED that Charley Lawrence Laman, Bar No. 024265, is reprimanded for his conduct in violation of the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules of the Supreme Court of Arizona, as outlined in the consent documents.”

Respondent was placed on probation for a period of two years with conditions and was ordered to pay $1,200 representing the Arizona State Bar costs and expenses incurred in the proceedings.

Mr. Laman is a practicing attorney at Laman Law Offices, PLLC. He graduated from the Washburn University School of Law in 1979. He has been admitted to Arizona and Kansas. His info can be found on Avvo.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.