State v. Callahan

Ruth Fulton, an elderly California resident, sold 320 acres of family land in Kansas to Lowell Lygrisse, with attorney John Callahan (defendant) handling the transaction for both parties. Callahan drafted the sale documents based solely on terms Lygrisse provided, without consulting Fulton, structuring the deal so Lygrisse would pay Fulton in three installments unsecured by any mortgage in her favor; Fulton signed believing Callahan was protecting her interests. Callahan went on to become Lygrisse's personal attorney, and when Lygrisse failed to make the final payment, Fulton repeatedly asked Callahan to pursue foreclosure, believing she held a secured interest, but Callahan kept advising her to give Lygrisse more time. Only after Fulton flew to Kansas to confront him did Callahan disclose his conflict of interest, and he later told her she in fact held only an unsecured promissory note, not a mortgage. Fulton hired new counsel, sued Callahan for malpractice, and he later filed for bankruptcy; she was never paid. A bar disciplinary panel found Callahan violated several rules of professional conduct and suspended him indefinitely, and he appealed.