A Des Moines attorney is facing a possible suspension of her law license after repeatedly missing deadlines in her clients’ appeals.
The Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board has charged Karmen R. Anderson with violating three of Iowa’s rules of professional conduct for attorneys by missing court-imposed deadlines, failing to expedite client appeals and engaging in conduct that is harmful to the administration of justice.
The alleged violations are related to what the Iowa Supreme Court Grievance Committee calls “Anderson’s burdensome appeals flow, her unwillingness to request assistance with those files, and her lack of mechanisms to avoid missed deadlines.”
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Court records show Anderson missed 42 appeal deadlines, resulting in 24 notices of default in more than two dozen cases she handled between December 2019 and October 2023. According to the commission, Iowa appellate courts have ordered Anderson to withdraw as attorney for her clients in “a number of cases.” of those cases.”
In recommending that Anderson’s law license be suspended for 45 days, the commission alleges that a 2019 public reprimand “for virtually identical conduct (and) her continued failure to address these issues” amounts to neglect.
“Ms. Anderson consistently failed to expedite proceedings and consistently failed to meet deadlines, ultimately culminating in the Iowa Supreme Court removing her from four cases in February 2023,” the committee said in its recommendation to the court, adding that Anderson does not dispute the number of missed deadlines and notices.
Committee: Lawyer seemed dismissive and uncooperative
At a hearing on the case several months ago, Anderson pointed out that none of her clients’ appeals had been denied because of her behavior. The committee countered that “it cannot be ignored that its clients’ appeals had been delayed, some significantly,” and that the legal system “had to expend resources, including the entry of notices of default and orders to retain Ms. Anderson as counsel in several cases dismiss.”
The committee found that the personal and family health issues Anderson faced in recent years were mitigating factors. There were also aggravating factors, the commission said, citing Anderson’s apparent belief that her actions were not problematic and that because her clients were in custody at the time, the delays did not harm them.
“Anderson’s stance at the hearing was essentially that these missed deadlines and boilerplate announcements are not a problem,” the committee said in its recommendation. “In some ways she seemed dismissive.”
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Anderson also refused to cooperate during the discovery phase of the disciplinary process and was disciplined for that failure, the committee noted.
The committee recommended that, in addition to suspending Anderson’s license for 45 days, the Iowa Supreme Court should require before her license is reinstated that she complete continuing education on managing a legal practice and adhering to court deadlines.
The court has yet to rule on that recommendation and Anderson has appealed the commission’s recommendations. When contacted Monday, Anderson declined to comment on the matter.
In the 2019 disciplinary case, Anderson was publicly reprimanded for failing to process clients’ appeals in a timely manner, resulting in several default notices being filed against her, even as she faced disciplinary charges for such failures. Court records show the court imposed $1,950 in fines on Anderson.
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This article originally appeared in the Des Moines Register: Des Moines attorney who misses deadline may face disbarment
