| ► Attorney Pamela Vandel of Des Moines; ethical dwarf |
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Attorney Pamela Vandel of Des Moines; ethical dwarf
The state of Iowa presented Pamela A. Vandel with a law license in 1995 after she graduated from Thomas M. Cooley Law School located in Lansing, Michigan.
The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board found Pamela Ann Vandel guilty of the following misconduct.
In August 2009, Pam agreed to represent a criminal defendant for a flat fee of $5,000. At about the same time, the client paid Pamela $5,000 in cash.
Although the fee agreement was not based on an hourly rate, Pam provided a billing statement to the client after she withdrew claiming she had spent 3.7 hours in August and 37.95 hours thereafter.
Pam failed to deposit the $5,000 into a trust account as required, and her fee agreement did not contain any clause protecting the client’s right to a refund of unearned fees if the representation terminated before the conclusion of the case.
In November 2009, before the client’s case was completed, Pam withdrew her representation of the client. However, she did not refund any of the client’s $5,000 flat fee.
As a consequence of his misconduct, the enablers for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board punished Pam by gifting her with complimentary reprimand.
As we speak (ca. January 2013), Pam practices at 520 Walnut Street in Des Moines, Iowa.
On her self-serving website at www.vandellaw.com, Pam makes no mention of the misconduct aforementioned. Apparently, she decided not to divulge this information to prospective clients in order to not limit her future victim pool.
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