A well-known, Pittsburgh-area attorney with a history of disciplinary infractions going back 30 years has been suspended from practicing law over allegations that he failed to properly represent a client in Indiana County.
The state Supreme Court Disciplinary Board recommended a nine-month suspension for attorney Milton Raiford in its report and recommendations issued in July, but the court on Wednesday imposed a suspension of one year and one day.
Raiford said he was not surprised by the decision.
“I knew it was coming,” Raiford said.
According to the disciplinary filing, Raiford was retained to represent a man in Indiana County on drug charges. The client paid him $9,250 in cash in May 2021, and in early 2022 pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two to four years in prison.
Although the board did not question the handling of the plea, it did allege that Raiford failed to maintain the client’s funds in a trust account as required and failed to answer when the defendant said he wanted to appeal.
The petition alleged that the defendant’s mother and fianceé reached out to Raiford to appeal, but Raiford either ignored them or failed to respond in a timely manner.
Raiford never did file the appeal, the disciplinary board said, and he did not withdraw from the case either.
Then, Raiford did not file an answer by July 8, 2022, when ordered to do so by Superior Court.
Nearly a month later, Raiford filed a response asserting that the client received a good sentence and that he told the man’s mother that he does not handle appeals.
According to the board, at a hearing on the disciplinary issue Raiford apologized for not answering the Superior Court.
“I’m at peace because I told the truth,” Raiford told TribLive.
Raiford was previously disbarred by the court in 1997 — retroactive to 1994 — after he was charged with, and convicted of, obstructing the administration of law.
He was readmitted to practice in 2010.
Then, in 2022, he received a public reprimand following his refusal to represent a client in a criminal case. The refusal grew out of a dispute with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office.