A Fargo lawyer's Minnesota license was suspended in May for 60 days after she dawdled on processing a client's divorce, according to the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility.
Bonnie Askew's North Dakota license was also suspended for 60 days over the matter. Askew took on the case in July 2007, but relied on her "non-lawyer" daughter to oversee the matter. The client thought the divorce had gone through but found it hadn't when she was preparing to do her taxes and requested a copy of the decree in 2008 and again in 2009. The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled Askew did not "act with reasonable diligence and promptness" when she failed to communicate with the client by mail in 2008 or talk to her on the phone from July 2007 to April 2009, when the divorce was finalized The North Dakota ruling said a panel found Askew had been admonished on four previous occasions since March 1997. View the Minnesota order here. View the North Dakota order here.
