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Lawyer quits bar after suspension Grants Pass man accused of fraud By CHRIS BRISTOL A Grants Pass lawyer has resigned from the state bar over allegations that he defrauded more than a dozen clients and continued to practice law after he was suspended. Robert W. Dewey submitted a Form B resignation March 1. The Oregon Supreme Court accepted the document Tuesday. He had been under investigation since 1997, when bar officials in Lake Oswego began to receive a series of complaints from residents of Josephine and Jackson counties who said Dewey took their money but did no work on their behalf. According to court records, the bar eventually accused Dewey of defrauding at least 12 prospective clients in civil and criminal cases. Dewey also was accused of failing to respond to repeated bar inquiries over the allegations, charging illegal or excessive fees and failing to deposit retainers in trust. He was suspended by the bar on June 3, 1997, leading to an awkward confrontation two days later when he tried to appear before Josephine County Judge Allan Coon. The judge told him to leave. In addition to his clients, Grants Pass attorney Dan Simcoe and Jackson County Judge Mark Schiveley also filed misconduct complaints against Dewey. In a brief phone interview Wednesday night, Dewey denied the allegations and said bar rules gave him only two courses of action: resign or go to court. "I signed the resignation only because I didn't want to spend the money to contest it," he said. The bar alleged that some of his clients suffered legal damage: One man's lawsuit was dismissed, another client had to negotiate a plea-bargain by himself at the last second and another unwittingly defaulted on two traffic tickets, resulting in a suspended license. In his resignation letter, Dewey also referred to two more recent failure-to-perform cases and an overdraft of his lawyer trust account. Bar officials said they estimated Dewey defrauded various clients of more than $16,000 from 1996 to 1998. Under the terms of Form B, Dewey essentially entered a no-contest plea -- neither admitting guilt nor contesting the allegations. His remaining caseload has been turned over to Grants Pass attorney Pat Wolke. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA