Case Title: The Florida Bar v. Hagglund

Citation: 372 So. 2d 76

Docket Number: 53459

State: florida

Court: Florida Supreme Court

Date: 1979-06-07T00:00:00Z

Document:
372 So. 2d 76 (1979)
THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant,
v.
Clemens HAGGLUND, Respondent.
No. 53459.

Supreme Court of Florida.
June 7, 1979.
Thomas R. Hess, Bar Counsel, Daytona Beach, and H. Glenn Boggs, II, Asst. Staff Counsel, Tallahassee, for complainant.
Andrew Baron, Orlando, and R.J. Beckham, of Beckham, McAliley & Proenza, Jacksonville, for respondent.
PER CURIAM.
This disciplinary proceeding against a member of The Florida Bar is before the court upon report and recommendation of a referee and the petitions of both parties for review. Art. V, § 15, Fla. Const.; Fla.Bar Integr.Rule, art. XI, Rule 11.06(9), 11.09.
Following a finding of probable cause by a Florida Bar grievance committee, a disciplinary trial was held before a referee. The referee's essential findings of fact as to the items of misconduct alleged in the bar's complaint are as follows:
Our review of the record reveals that the referee's findings of fact are supported by the evidence.
The referee recommended that the respondent be found guilty of violating Florida Bar Integration Rule, article XI, Rule 11.02(3)(a), and Florida Bar Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rules 1-102(A)(5) and 5-104(A). We approve this recommendation and find the respondent guilty of these violations.
The referee's report includes a recommendation as to the disciplinary measures to be applied. Fla.Bar Integr.Rule, art. XI, Rule 11.06(9)(a)(3). The referee recommends that the respondent be suspended from the practice of law for a period of two months and thereafter
Upon our review of the circumstances of this case, we are of the view that the recommended suspension is unwarranted. It is our judgment that the respondent should receive a public reprimand.
We agree with the sentiment expressed by the referee and by The Florida Bar that the complaining witness should not be allowed to suffer financially from the respondent's ethical violations. However, the only way to order restitution, within the contemplation of the Florida Bar Integration Rule, is as a condition imposed along with suspension. Fla.Bar Integr. Rule, art. XI, Rule 11.10(3). Since we here decide that suspension is unwarranted, the vindication of the complaining witness' grievances against the respondent must be left to ordinary civil proceedings.
We hereby reprimand Clemens Hagglund for violating Florida Bar Integration Rule, *80 article XI, Rule 11.02(3)(a), and Florida Bar Code of Professional Responsibility, Disciplinary Rules 1-102(A)(5) and 5-104(A). The costs of these proceedings in the amount of $1,158.27 are taxed against the respondent.
It is so ordered.
ENGLAND, C.J., and ADKINS, BOYD and HATCHETT, JJ., concur.
ALDERMAN, J., dissents with an opinion, with which OVERTON and SUNDBERG, JJ., concur.
ALDERMAN, Justice, dissenting.
I dissent to that portion of the majority opinion which disapproves the referee's recommended disciplinary penalty of suspension from the practice of law for a period of two months and imposes a public reprimand instead. The referee's recommended penalty is warranted under the present circumstances. My concern is not with the matters which occurred ten years ago but rather with respondent's reprehensible misconduct in executing and filing a false affidavit of proof as to the amount due and owing him from Mrs. Robitaille, in support of his motion for default judgment against her. Respondent admits that certain payments had been made toward the loan or investment so that he knew the amount of the final judgment against Mrs. Robitaille was greater than it should have been. Furthermore, he was aware of the continued efforts to levy and execute upon the incorrect judgment, yet he did nothing to inform the court of the judgment's infirmities. Apparently, it was because of respondent's advice to Mrs. Robitaille that the default judgment was entered against her. While advising Mrs. Robitaille on other legal matters, respondent told her not to actively defend any suit filed by him against her or to ignore his claim and to allow the default judgment. At no time did he advise her, as he should have, to obtain independent counsel to represent her in any claim that he would commence against her. The referee correctly terms respondent's conduct toward Mrs. Robitaille as callous and indifferent.
In my view, a two-months suspension is entirely appropriate. Accordingly, I would approve the referee's recommended disciplinary measure that respondent be suspended from the practice of law for a period of two months and thereafter until he offers proof that any judgment that he has recovered in the suit of Hagglund v. Robitaille has been satisfied, discharged, or vacated without cost to Mrs. Robitaille, that she has been reimbursed for any payment that she has made or any portion of that judgment upon which execution has been entered, and that the respondent be required to pay all costs of this proceeding.
OVERTON and SUNDBERG, JJ., concur.