On November 22, 2022, the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County of Massachusetts publicly reprimanded Hyannis attorney David C. Nunheimer for incompetent representation. The Case is entitled “In the matter of David C. Nunheimer” with Case No. BD-2022-046.
The charges cited rules of professional conduct 1.1 and 1.8(c) which state:
A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.
A lawyer shall not, for his own personal benefit or the benefit of any person closely related to the lawyer, solicit any substantial gift from a client, including a testamentary gift, or prepare for a client an instrument giving the lawyer or a person closely related to the lawyer any substantial gift, including a testamentary gift, unless the lawyer or other recipient of the gift is closely related to the client. For purposes of this Rule, a person is “closely related” to another person if related to such other person as a sibling, spouse, child, grandchild, parent, or grandparent, or as the spouse of any such person.
The Rules of Professional Conduct can be found here.
The filing states:
“The basis of the SSA discipline was the failure of the respondent to competently represent a client before the SSA. He also created a trust instrument for the client, in which the respondent was named as a beneficiary. As a result of the respondent’s lack of competence, specifically, his failure to review and understand SSA regulations, the trust did not shield the proceeds of the sale of the client’s home from consideration for Social Security Disability Insurance purposes. The respondent, however, never received any benefits from the client’s trust.”
Upon consideration by the Court, the respondent was ordered to be publicly reprimanded.
The Disposition states:
“It is ORDERED that David C. Nunheimer be, and hereby is, publicly reprimanded.”
As of today, Mr. Nunheimer is listed on the website of the law firm Hyannis & Chatham, MA as a practicing attorney. His info can be found on Linkedin. He attended Suffolk University School of Law, graduating in 1985. Nunheimer practices in Hyannis, Massachusetts.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
