On Wednesday, April 24, 2024, attorney Darlene Mann was suspended from practicing law for 26 months by the Presiding Disciplinary Judge of the Colorado Supreme Court.
The case is entitled “People v. Darlene Mann,” with case no. 23PDJ022.
The charges cited Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct 1.15(a), 1.15(a)(b), 1.16(d), and 3.3(a)(1) which states:
A lawyer must hold client property separate from the lawyer’s own property.
On receiving funds from a client or third person, a lawyer must promptly deliver to the client or third person any funds that person is entitled to receive.
A lawyer must protect a client’s interests on termination of the representation, including by returning unearned fees.
A lawyer must not knowingly make a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal.
The Rules of Professional Conduct can be found here.
According to the filing, Mann represented clients in two different legal cases where she mishandled client funds held in her trust account. In one case, she was hired to handle kinship adoption and estate planning for a married couple. She deposited their $3,500 retainer into her trust account but withdrew funds for her services before completing all the necessary work. Her accounting records did not properly document the work performed. Additionally, her trust account balance fell below what she should have been holding for the clients on multiple occasions. When her law license was suspended in November 2021, Mann failed to refund unearned fees, return the clients’ files, or notify them of her suspension.
In another case, Mann represented a client facing contempt charges for not selling vehicles as part of a divorce decree. Mann received $25,500 in checks from vehicle sales but deposited them into her payroll account. Two of the checks bounced, leaving only $10,500 available. Mann misleadingly told the court the checks had bounced without disclosing she held those funds. Her trust account balance also dropped below the amount owed to her client. Ultimately, Mann did not turn over $10,500 to the opposing counsel for 10 months, during which time she used the money for her own business expenses without authorization.
Due to Mann’s misconduct that violated several Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct – specifically regarding the proper handling of client funds and providing accurate communications to courts – the Presiding Disciplinary Judge suspended Mann’s law license for 26 months, with the suspension taking effect on May 29, 2024.
According to avvo.com, Ms. Mann is a family attorney in Englewood, Colorado. She acquired her law license in Colorado in 2005.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
