## Facts

- David Helmers was a young Kentucky attorney employed by a law firm representing plaintiffs in a class action against a pharmaceutical company.
- The circuit court ordered the parties to mediate, and the litigation resulted in an aggregate settlement of $200,000,000 for the plaintiffs.
- The settlement required (1) decertification of the class and (2) signed releases from the settling plaintiffs.
- Helmers’s supervising attorney instructed him to prepare payout schedules for individual plaintiffs and to meet with clients to present settlement amounts and obtain releases.
- Helmers met with and obtained releases from 39 clients.
- Acting at his employer’s direction, Helmers intentionally withheld material information from clients about the settlement’s nature and structure, including the financial details of the offer.
- Helmers also withheld information that the class action would be decertified and failed to explain how many cases were being resolved through the settlement.
- He did not disclose that funds were being withheld to indemnify the defendant against other claims.
- The supervising attorneys further directed Helmers to offer some clients amounts substantially below what they had originally been assigned in the allocation schedule.
- Helmers was instructed to tell clients they would be penalized if they spoke with other plaintiffs and to seek client approval to donate unawarded settlement money to a charity controlled by firm leaders; many attorneys involved in the broader scheme were later disbarred.
- The Kentucky Bar Association Inquiry Commission investigated Helmers’s role and filed a disciplinary complaint alleging eight ethics violations.
- A trial commissioner found Helmers guilty of six charges, noted Helmers acted as a subordinate, and recommended a five-year suspension.
- The KBA Board of Governors reviewed the matter de novo, found Helmers guilty of the same six counts, and recommended permanent disbarment to the Supreme Court of Kentucky.

## Issues

1. Whether Helmers’s intentional withholding and misrepresentation of material settlement information to clients while obtaining releases warranted permanent disbarment rather than a fixed-term suspension.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Kentucky adopted the Board of Governors’ recommendation.
- The court permanently disbarred Helmers from the practice of law in Kentucky.
- The court treated Helmers’s conduct as intentional deception that deprived clients of the information needed to make informed decisions about settlement and releases, and it found that working under supervisors did not excuse his personal misconduct.

## Legal Principles

- The purpose of attorney discipline is protection of the public, the courts, and the legal profession, rather than punishment.
- A lawyer must provide clients with sufficient information about a settlement to allow informed decision-making, including information that bears on the client’s choice to accept payment and sign a release.
- Intentional dishonesty or concealment of material facts from a client in connection with settlement is serious professional misconduct.
- Following instructions from supervisors may be considered in mitigation, but it does not eliminate a lawyer’s individual responsibility for intentional misrepresentations and omissions made to clients.
- Where misconduct shows deliberate client deception connected to financial terms and releases, disbarment may be required to protect the public and maintain confidence in the legal profession.

## Conclusion

The Kentucky Supreme Court permanently disbarred Helmers because he intentionally participated in a settlement-release process that withheld and misstated material information to clients, and the court concluded that his subordinate role did not justify a lesser sanction given the gravity of the deception and the risk it posed to clients and public trust.


Kentucky Bar Association v. Helmers, 353 S.W.3d 599 (2011)