Samuel Omwenga

DCCA Opinion (August 16, 2012)

Summary: In five consolidated cases, the D.C. Court of Appeals disbarred Omwenga for intentional misappropriation in one matter. In addition, the court required Omwenga to make restitution to one client in the amount of $550, with interest at the legal rate, as a condition of reinstatement and deferred consideration of the issue of restitution to Omwenga’s other clients pending an application for reinstatement. The court adopted the Board on Professional Responsibility’s report that found Omwenga committed intentional misappropriation in one matter and 57 other violations of the disciplinary rules in four matters. The fifth matter was dismissed. In the first matter, Omwenga represented a client in connection with her immigration removal proceeding and in her application for permanent residence status. Omwenga failed to communicate with the client or to file papers with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Omwenga advised the client not to appear at an immigration hearing, which Omwenga also did not attend and at which the immigration court ordered the client removed in absentia from the United States. Omwenga then drafted an affidavit for the client’s signature that falsely stated the reason the client did not attend the hearing. Omwenga did not advise the client that his incorrect advice not to attend the hearing might have formed a basis for relief from the removal order. In addition, Omwenga made numerous false statements in his answer to the ethical complaint, and testified falsely before the Hearing Committee. In the second matter, Omwenga was retained to file an I-130 immigration application to adjust a client’s immigration status, but Omwenga failed to file the application. In addition, Omwenga lied when he told the client on multiple occasions that he had filed the I-130 petition. Thereafter, immigration authorities arrested the client and placed him in removal proceedings. The client then retained Omwenga to represent him at the immigration removal hearing in addition to the adjustment of status matter. Omwenga told the client that he would be out of the country, but that he had filed a request for a continuance, and Omwenga advised the client that he had to attend the hearing, but Omwenga failed to prepare the client for it. At the hearing, the immigration judge, after questioning the client, ordered him removed from the United States, noting that an I-130 petition has not been filed and that Omwenga had not been excused from attending the hearing. Omwenga thereafter appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), but did not file a timely brief. Omwenga failed to return his client’s property upon termination of the representation. Finally, Omwenga was untruthful in his responses to Bar Counsel and testified falsely at the hearing. In the third matter, Omwenga was retained to represent a client in an asylum case before the immigration court. Omwenga advised the client of the incorrect time of the hearing, resulting in the immigration court ordering the client to be removed in absentia because of the client’s failure to appear at the hearing; in addition, Omwenga failed to appear at the hearing. Omwenga thereafter drafted an untruthful affidavit for the client to sign in support of a motion for reconsideration and filed that affidavit with a false notarization page. Omwenga’s several posthearing motions were denied because, inter alia, Omwenga failed to comply with applicable rules. Omwenga thereafter notified the client of the denials and that the client would need to pay him an additional $1,000 to appeal the case to the BIA. Omwenga filed a brief with the BIA without reviewing the brief with the client or giving him a copy. Omwenga was untruthful with the immigration court, the BIA, and in his testimony to the Hearing Committee. In the fourth matter, a client retained Omwenga to represent him in connection with the purchase of a laundromat business. Omwenga negotiated for the purchase of the equipment at a price of $48,050, and the client delivered a certified check in that amount to Omwenga. After signing a bill of sale, Omwenga continued to negotiate with the seller and reached agreement on a reduced price of $46,000. Omwenga then paid the $46,000 to the seller and withdrew the remaining $2,050 in cash without the client’s knowledge or consent. Omwenga did not transfer the funds to another account or provide them to the client. The client repeatedly asked for copies of the laundromat sales documents, but Omwenga failed to provide them. At a subsequent meeting, the client demanded the return of the $2,050. Omwenga gave the client a check for $1,500, but stated that he was retaining the remaining $550 as additional legal fees because he had negotiated a better sales price. At hearing, the client testified that he did not agree to pay the additional legal fees, but he did not challenge Omwenga for fear that he would not provide the client with documentation of the sale. In addition, Omwenga made false statements to his client, the courts, and Bar Counsel. Omwenga also testified falsely at the hearing. Omwenga violated numerous rules in the four client matters, which in the aggregate included Rules 1.1(a), 1.1(b), 1.3(a), 1.3(b)(1), 1.3(b)(2), 1.3(c), 1.4(a), 1.4(b), 1.5(b), 1.7(b)(4), 1.7(c), 3.3(a)(1), 3.4(c), 1.15(a), 1.15(b), 1.15(d), 1.16(d), 8.1(a), 8.4(c), and 8.4(d), and D.C. Bar R. XI, § 2(b)(3).

Board Report and Orders (July 28, 2011)

Summary: In five consolidated cases, the Board on Professional Responsibility recommends that the D.C. Court of Appeals disbar Omwenga for intentional misappropriation in one matter.

Hearing Committee Report (February 4, 2011)

Summary: Not yet available.

DCCA Order (December 2, 2010)

Summary: Omwenga was suspended on an interim basis based on a substantial threat of serious harm to the public.