## Facts

- Howard L. Jenkins II was a Kansas lawyer who represented Gary Brooks in a divorce action.
- After trial, the divorce court ordered Brooks’s former wife to deliver specified items of personal property to Brooks.
- Instead of delivering the items directly to Brooks, Brooks’s former wife delivered certain items to Jenkins as Brooks’s lawyer.
- Jenkins did not inspect the items when he received them.
- Jenkins did not prepare an inventory or other written record identifying what property was received.
- Jenkins did not provide Brooks or the former wife a receipt or similar documentation for the delivered items.
- Jenkins placed the property in his wife’s garage.
- Jenkins stated that he was in the process of divorcing and did not have access to his wife’s garage during the period the property was stored there.
- Some of the property was later delivered to Brooks, but other items were not returned, and Brooks asserted that items were missing.
- Brooks had difficulty getting information from Jenkins and experienced delayed or nonresponsive communication about the location and status of the property.
- Brooks filed a complaint with the Office of the Disciplinary Administrator.
- After a hearing, a panel of the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys found that Jenkins violated KRPC 1.15 (safekeeping property) and recommended indefinite suspension; the panel also recommended that Jenkins negotiate with Brooks to resolve any dispute about the return of the property.

## Issues

1. Did Jenkins violate KRPC 1.15 by failing to safeguard, document, and account for personal property entrusted to him in connection with a divorce decree?
2. If a violation occurred, what discipline was warranted?

## Decision

- The Kansas Supreme Court concluded that Jenkins violated KRPC 1.15 based on his handling of Brooks’s personal property.
- The Court imposed indefinite suspension from the practice of law in Kansas.
- The Court acted on the hearing panel’s report and recommendation in this original disciplinary proceeding.

## Legal Principles

- When a lawyer receives client property (including tangible personal property), the lawyer must take reasonable steps to safeguard it and must be able to account for it under KRPC 1.15.
- Accepting possession of property creates duties of control and documentation; failing to inspect and record what was received can leave the lawyer unable to provide a reliable accounting.
- Storing entrusted property in a location the lawyer cannot reliably access or control can violate the duty to keep the property safe and available for delivery to the client.
- Mishandling client property and failing to provide timely information about it can support severe professional discipline, including indefinite suspension.

## Conclusion

In re Jenkins holds that an attorney who takes possession of a client’s personal property during a representation must protect it and keep adequate records so the property can be accounted for and returned; Jenkins’s failure to inventory or receipt the items, combined with inadequate control over where they were stored and the incomplete return of property, violated KRPC 1.15 and warranted indefinite suspension.


In re Jenkins, 907 P.2d 825 (1995)