Bar Counsel charged respondent, an attorney admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia, with negligent misappropriation of client funds and failing to deliver funds promptly, in violation of Rules 1.15(a) and (b) of the Rules of Professional Conduct (client property to be kept in separate account). The hearing committee concluded that respondent had engaged in misappropriation of *507 client funds held in trust by simple negligence, and had failed to promptly pay such funds to a third party. It recommended a six-month suspension. The Board on Professional Responsibility (“Board”) accepted the hearing committee’s findings on the two violations and its recommendation of a six-month suspension from the practice of law, but recommended that the suspension be held in abeyance for two years while respondent serve an unmonitored probation.
This matter is before the court on Bar Counsel’s exception to that part of the Board’s report recommending that the six-month suspension be held in abeyance. Neither Bar Counsel nor respondent challenges the findings on the underlying violations. The Board recommended probation instead of an immediate six-month suspension because of the unchallenged hearing committee findings that: (1) this was respondent’s first disciplinary proceeding of record; (2) the misconduct was limited to the one instance of inadvertent misappropriation, with no other ethical violations; (3) the misconduct occurred less than three years after respondent began the practice of law and in her very first personal injury case; (4) respondent was a sole practitioner who could not afford clerical assistance other than typing assistance; (5) the unpaid funds owed were paid as soon as respondent learned they were still due; and (6) respondent cooperated fully with Bar Counsel in its investigation of her conduct. The Board acknowledges that its recommendation of probation for negligent misappropriation is more lenient than the sanction imposed in prior cases of misappropriation, but it has made its recommendation as an “exercis[e] [of its] ... broad discretion in handing out discipline,”
see Matter of Smith,
I.
Respondent became a sole practitioner shortly after her admission by examination to the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on September 22, 1989. Respondent, who primarily represented criminal defendants, agreed to handle her first personal injury case for a friend, Hedy L. Talbot, on May 23, 1991. The written retainer agreement provided that respondent would receive a contingency fee of thirty-three and one-third percent if the case was settled, and a forty percent contingency fee if a suit was filed. Thereafter, respondent and Talbot entered into an agreement with Dr. Hamilton Jackson, by which Jackson’s bill for Talbot’s treatment would be paid from the proceeds of any recovery. Negotiations for settlement then commenced. Because of Talbot’s delay in accepting the proposed settlement, respondent filed a complaint to avoid statute of limitations problems.
In January 1993 the case was settled for $3,600. Respondent and her client endorsed the settlement check and respondent deposited it in her escrow account, which had a zero balance prior to the deposit, at the Industrial Bank of Washington (“Bank”). Because the final settlement amount was relatively small, respondent reduced her fee to one-third of recovery, $1,199.88 1 A settlement/disbursement sheet showed that the disbursements were to be paid as follows: 1) $1,199.88 to respondent; 2) $435 to Dr. Jackson; 3) $110 to a Dr. James; and 4) $1855.12 to the client.
On or about February 16,1993, respondent drew a check on the escrow account for $1,199.88 payable to herself. She also purchased a cashier’s check payable to Talbot for the amount due her and Dr. James was also paid the amount specified on the settlement sheet. This left a balance of $435, the exact amount owed to Dr. Jackson. Respon *508 dent, however, did not pay Dr. Jackson any amount. Thereafter, the bank debited $100 against the escrow account for a check for an unknown payee. On February 25, respondent cashed an escrow account check payable to cash for $50. On March 7,1993, she wrote a cheek, on the escrow account, payable to Shopper’s Food Warehouse for $91.35. Another check payable to cash was debited from the account on March 23, 1993, leaving a balance of $96.65, considerably less than the amount owed to Dr. Jackson.
After the client received a letter in December 1993 demanding payment of Dr. Jackson’s bill, she filed a complaint against respondent with Bar Counsel. Respondent testified before the hearing committee that she thought she had paid Dr. Jackson and was completely surprised upon receiving Bar Counsel’s letter indicating otherwise. After checking with the bank and discovering no record of the payment, respondent purchased a money order for $435.00 and mailed it to Dr. Jackson’s attorney.
Finding that a negligent misappropriation ' had been established, the hearing committee recommended a six-month suspension. The Board, however, concluded that probation was a more appropriate sanction than the six-month suspension ordinarily imposed for attorneys who commit an inadvertent misappropriation of client funds. The Board and Bar Counsel both agree on the underlying facts — that respondent engaged in misappropriation of client funds when she allowed the balance in her client trust account to fall below an amount owed to a third party — and that six months is the appropriate period of suspension for this misconduct. They disagree only on whether the suspension should be served or held in abeyance during a period of probation. Respondent agrees with the Board.
II.
Bar Counsel does not contend that this misappropriation was other than inadvertent, and we accept that characterization of what occurred here. However, improper intent is not an element of misappropriation.
See In re Choroszej,
The Board has recommended that a six-month suspension be imposed but that the suspension be held in abeyance during a two-year period of probation. The governing rule provides that we should adopt the Board’s recommended disposition unless to do so would foster a tendency toward inconsistent disposition for comparable conduct or would otherwise be unwarranted. D.C.App. R. XI § 9(g)(1) (1995). Because the Board’s recommendation here is itself a departure from an unbroken line of cases in which an actual suspension of at least six months has been imposed for the same conduct, and there are insufficient mitigating factors to justify such departure, we do not accept the Board’s recommendation.
See, e.g., Choroszej, supra,
It may be that, under certain circumstances, in light of the inexperience of counsel and the other factors relied upon by the Board, holding a suspension in abeyance for this kind of violation might be appropriate. We neither endorse nor reject such a course, and we will always give due consideration to any such recommendation, as we have in this *509 case. We are unwilling to take that step here, however, because we are troubled by respondent’s failure to explain the circumstances relating to the three or four other checks drawn on the client’s escrow account for respondent’s own use.
Respondent deposited the settlement cheek in an escrow account, then wrote checks to herself, Talbot, and Dr. James. No additional funds were added to the account. Therefore, if Dr. Jackson had been paid the amount due him, the funds in the account would have been exhausted, i.e., the balance would have been zero. Notwithstanding, respondent continued to draw on the escrow account for her personal use. Significantly, she could not explain the purpose for which the money drawn was spent. For example, she could not recollect endorsing a $50 check made payable to cash and she offered no explanation concerning how the money was used. Nor did she recall anything about a check payable to cash for $150 which she also endorsed. 2 A little more than a month after the escrow account was opened, there was yet another unexplained $100 debit. Respondent’s testimony revealed that her accounting practices were practically non-existent and careless at best. She did not keep a running balance, her check ledger had no memos, and she did not keep track of the funds. In fact, she did not always open the monthly statements on the account that were sent to her by the bank.
The circumstances of respondent’s failure to maintain adequate records is virtually indistinguishable from what occurred in
Choroszej, supra,
ORDERED that respondent, Janai C. Reed, be suspended fi-om the practice of law in the District of Columbia for a period of six months, effective thirty days from the date of this order.
So Ordered.
Notes
. The record is silent concerning the 12 cents deducted from $1200, which is exactly one-third of the settlement amount.
. Respondent’s only explanation was that, perhaps, she reimbursed herself for the filing fee in the suit. However, at the time she drew up the disbursement/settlement statement, she did not make any claim for reimbursement of expenses.