Attorney Robert Arentz of Phoenix; greedy loser

• Misconduct involved multiple offenses
• Refused to acknowledge wrongful nature of conduct
• Motivated by selfishness
• Victims were vulnerable
• Charged clearly excessive fees

1. Robert billed client $6,900, but was ordered to refund $4,000 as excessive fee
2. Robert collected $18,000 to defend armed robbery suspect who was released form jail and never charged with a crime, but it took Robert over 5 months before he refunded $16,000 in excessive fees
3. Robert was paid $5,000 by a mother to have her son’s 2 year prison sentenced reduced, but Robert never performed any services to earn the $5,000 which was ruled to be excessive
4. In another matter, the client was arrested on July 14, 2005, as a suspect in an armed robbery. On the same day, the client’s friend arranged for representation by Phillips and Associates for a fee of $35,000; $18,000 of which was charged on a credit card, with the remainder to come from refinancing a house. By the next day, the client was released from jail and was never charged in the crime. The client advised Phillips and Associates of this. However, the firm did not refund $16,000 of the $18,000 payment until the end of December, 2005. An administrator in the firm impeded the processing of the refund request and the firm failed to have in place policies to prevent the difficulty in obtaining a refund. Mr. Arentz supervised the refund process.
5. In a DUI case, the client paid Robert $2,090 prior to him demanding another $18,000. Only after an ethics complaint was filed did Robert refund the $2,090 to the client/victim