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People v. Stanley Toshi Matsunaka
Around summer 2020, Stanley Matsunaka agreed to help a client file a claim for approximately $41,000 against an estate, according to a disciplinary opinion, but Matsunaka didn’t enter a written fee agreement with the client. In July 2020, Matsunaka informed his client they could proceed with the claim. Four days later his client emailed him a notice from the estate announcing any claim must be submitted to the estate’s personal representative or filed with the presiding court by Nov. 24, 2020. But Matsunaka neither filed his client’s claim by that date nor confirmed with his paralegal whether the claim had been submitted. In June 2022 he sent a letter to the personal representative, stating a notice of his client’s claim had been filed.
In August 2022, Matsunaka’s client requested an update on the matter. Though Matsunaka confirmed with his paralegal a notice of claim was never submitted, he failed to alert his client her claim had not been filed. Nor did he advise her he attempted to file an untimely notice of the claim in late August 2022 or that the claim was later denied as untimely.
In October 2022, Matsunaka’s client sent him an email, notifying him his assistant had provided the client with a copy of the letter Matsunaka sent to the personal representative in June 2022. The client also had obtained a copy of the claim that should have been filed in 2020. Matsunaka didn’t respond until January 2023, acknowledging the claim hadn’t been timely filed, the estate denied the claim as untimely and the estate was administratively closed. The client sought reimbursement from Matsunaka, who paid his client $15,000 and entered an agreement to pay her an additional $30,193.92.
The Presiding Disciplinary Judge approved Matsunaka’s stipulation to discipline and suspended him for six months, all to be stayed pending Matsunaka’s successful completion of a two-year conditional probation.
The probation takes effect Feb. 22.