Title: Matter of Perrello

State: indiana

Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court

Document:

394 N.E.2d 127 (1979)
In the matter of Biagio J. Perrello.
No. 678S105.

Supreme Court of Indiana.
September 12, 1979.
Wilcox & Ogden, Indianapolis, for appellant.
Sheldon A. Breskow, Indianapolis, for appellee.
PER CURIAM.
This proceeding is before the Court on a two-count verified complaint filed by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission pursuant to Admission and Discipline Rule 23, § 12. This cause was heard by a Hearing Officer who has filed his findings of fact and conclusions of law in accordance with Admission and Discipline Rule 23. The Respondent has petitioned this Court to review.
*128 The first count of the complaint filed in this cause charges Respondent with repeatedly violating Disciplinary Rule 2-103(A) and 2-104(A) by soliciting clients and giving unsolicited advice to laymen to obtain counsel, by recommending himself as counsel, and by accepting employment of the solicited clients.
Under the second count of the complaint filed in this cause, the Respondent is charged with violating Disciplinary Rules 1-102(A)(4) and (6) by misrepresenting and deceiving the Hearing Officer and this Court in a prior reinstatement proceeding.
In his petition for review, the Respondent seeks the setting aside of the findings and conclusions entered by the Hearing Officer and prays for the adoption of the Respondent's proposed findings which set forth his assessment of the factual and legal issues presented to the Hearing Officer. Thus, the petition raises questions of fact which are to be resolved by the review process employed by this Court in disciplinary proceedings. As we have previously stated, our review involves the examination of all matters submitted to establish the facts upon which a determination of misconduct is weighed. In re Craven (1979), Ind., 390 N.E.2d 163; In re Murray (1977), 266 Ind. 221, 362 N.E.2d 128, appeal dismissed, 434 U.S. 1029, 98 S. Ct. 758, 54 L. Ed. 2d 777 (1978); In re Pawlowski (1959), 240 Ind. 412, 165 N.E.2d 595.
This Court, having examined the matters submitted in this cause, accordingly now finds that the Respondent has engaged in a general course of conduct of approaching individuals in the hallways of the Marion County Municipal Courts, offering them unsolicited legal advice, and offering his services as a private attorney. This course of conduct included personally soliciting Dennis Weiss on or about August 4, 1977; William Barker on or about December 7, 1977; Michael Elkins on or about February 2, 1978; Diana Barley during April, 1978, and Jerry D. Tarver on or about March 13, 1978. In each instance the Respondent, without invitation, approached these individuals, whom he did not know, in the hallways of the Marion County Municipal Courts, offered them legal advice, suggested that they needed an attorney and stated that for a sum certain he would provide representation in court. In the cases of William Barker, Michael Elkins, Diana Barley, and Jerry D. Tarver, the Respondent accepted employment resulting from his advice that they should obtain counsel and take legal action. Dennis Weiss did not employ the Respondent.
The specific acts of solicitation relative to the above noted individuals were as follows:
The foregoing findings of fact clearly establish that the Respondent deliberately solicited clients who happen to find themselves in extremely vulnerable situations. The Respondent's acts further establish a mode of conduct fraught with misrepresentation and overreaching.
During the course of these proceedings, the Respondent has argued that the provisions of the Code of Professional Responsibility, under which he is charged in Count I of the verified complaint filed in this cause, are repugnant to the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and suffer from overbreadth as they infringe upon speech that is constitutionally protected. He has further asserted that such provisions are violative of Respondent's right to due process as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and by Article I, Section 12, of the Constitution of the State of Indiana, arguing that the provisions of the Code of Professional Responsibility are vague because they fail to set a clear line of demarcation between permitted and proscribed speech.
We find Respondent's assertions, in the context of the facts now before this Court, meritless. Guarding against the unscrupulous solicitation of unsuspecting laymen is not an infringement on the First Amendment. These rules protect and serve legitimate public interests by penalizing undue influence, overreaching and misrepresentations. *131 The rules cannot be viewed as overbroad or vague. The Hearing Officer in this case found that these rules are commonly understood by reasonable men and particularly by attorneys; we concur in this finding.
In accordance with the foregoing, we find that Respondent, by giving unsolicited advice to laymen to obtain counsel, by recommending himself as an attorney for such persons, and by accepting employment resulting therefrom violated Disciplinary Rules 2-103(A) and 2-104(A) of the Code of Professional Responsibility for Attorneys at Law.
Relative to the charges under Count II of the verified complaint, we now find that on or about May 1, 1973, the Indiana Supreme Court, in an opinion entitled In Re Perrello (1973), 260 Ind. 254, 295 N.E.2d 357, written by then Chief Justice Norman Arterburn, found the Respondent, Biagio J. Perrello, was guilty of professional misconduct. The Court, by adopting the Hearing Officer's findings, stated:
From the above facts, the Court concluded the following:
The Court, having found the above misconduct, suspended the Respondent from the practice of law for a period of not less than two (2) years.
On or about November 18, 1976, a hearing was held on the second petition for Reinstatement filed by the Respondent. At said hearing the Respondent testified at length regarding the conduct for which he was disciplined as set out above in paragraph one. He repeatedly stated, under oath, that such conduct was contrary to the Code of Professional Responsibility for Attorneys at Law, injurious to the public and bar, and that he would never engage in such conduct if reinstated to the practice of law. This testimony led the Hearing Officer to conclude:
On or about March 3, 1977, based in large part upon the above finding, the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission recommended the Respondent's reinstatement to the practice of law.
On or about March 16, 1977, the Respondent was reinstated to the practice of law by order of the Indiana Supreme Court.
The Respondent has, since the time of his reinstatement, engaged in the same course of conduct as that for which he originally was disciplined.
The Respondent, by stating to the Hearing Officer of the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission that he would not attempt to solicit business in the future and was truly remorseful for having done so in the past, attempted to and did deceive said Hearing Officer and the Indiana Supreme Court. Said misrepresentation was designed to gain readmission to the practice of law. In so doing, the Respondent engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation. Such conduct reflects adversely upon his fitness to practice law and is violative of Disciplinary Rules 1-102(A)(4) and (6), of the Code of Professional Responsibility for Attorneys at Law.
Having found misconduct, we must now consider the appropriate disciplinary sanction. The Respondent in this cause has exhibited an amazingly stubborn adherence to a course of conduct which is prohibited by clear and precise rules. He flagrantly disregarded all professional ethics in his constant striving for more clients and income. In view of Respondent's previous suspension from the practice of law for essentially the same type of misconduct, no sanction short of disbarment can effectively work to protect the unsuspecting public from such highly unethical behavior.
Therefore, by reason of the violations of the Code of Professional Responsibility found under the complaint filed in this cause, it is now ordered that the Respondent be, and he hereby is, disbarred as an attorney in the State of Indiana.
Costs of these proceedings are assessed against the Respondent.