Nevertheless, this Court is the ultimate arbiter of the appropriate sanction to be imposed for any professional infraction. We impose discipline not to punish a lawyer, but to inquire into and to gauge the lawyer's continued fitness to practice law, with a view to protecting the interest of the public, of the courts and of the legal profession. Although Bolton has been before this Court on two prior occasions for disciplinary infractions the facts presented are novel to bar disciplinary proceedings in Oklahoma and we recognize that Bolton's actions, in and of themselves, did not cause the economic harm suffered by Hutter. We find that Bolton's prior history of misconduct and his admissions here warrant a one-year suspension and an assessment of costs. The nondelegable, constitutional responsibility to regulate both the practice and the ethics, licensure, and discipline of the practitioners of the law is solely vested in this Court.32 Upon a de now review of the record, we find the appropriate discipline to be a one-year suspension and the payment of costs.
Prompt payment is a precondition to reinstatement.