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Problems in Legal Ethics Keyed to Schwartz, 14th Ed.
Phillips v. Carson
Citation:
240 Kan. 462, 731 P.2d 820 (1987)Facts
Thelma Phillips retained Carson and his law firm to handle her deceased husband’s estate in 1978. While representing her, Carson told Phillips he was having financial problems, and in 1980, she loaned him $200,000, secured by a second mortgage on Arizona property. In 1981, she loaned him an additional $70,000. In 1982, Carson persuaded Phillips to release her mortgage on the Arizona property in exchange for a mortgage on his 90-acre property in Wyandotte County, claiming this would put her in a better position. Carson prepared the new mortgage but failed to file it. When Phillips discovered the mortgage hadn’t been filed, she sought independent counsel who filed it in July 1982. Carson subsequently filed for bankruptcy, and Phillips’s security interest was deemed worthless due to prior liens. Throughout these transactions, Carson never advised Phillips to seek independent counsel, nor did he fully disclose the risks involved in the transactions. Phillips paid the firm $80,000 for legal services related to her husband’s estate, with the understanding that this fee covered all legal services until the estate was closed.
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