Title: Matter of Brewster
Citation: 587 A.2d 1067
Docket Number: N/A
State: Delaware
Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court
Date: March 8, 1991

587 A.2d 1067 (1991)
In the Matter of a Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of Delaware David K. BREWSTER.

Supreme Court of Delaware.
Submitted: February 5, 1991.
Decided: March 8, 1991.
Rehearing Denied: March 28, 1991.
Charles Slanina, Disciplinary Counsel, for the Bd. on Professional Responsibility, Wilmington.
David K. Brewster, pro se.
Before CHRISTIE, C.J., HORSEY and HOLLAND, JJ.
PER CURIAM:
This is a Disciplinary Proceeding. A panel of the Board on Professional Responsibility ("Board")[1] held a hearing involving charges of professional misconduct against the Respondent, David K. Brewster ("Brewster"). Bd.Prof.Resp.R. 9(d). The Board's proceedings were initiated following Brewster's three-count indictment and guilty plea to one count of Bank Fraud, a felony, in violation of Title 18, Section 1344(a)(2) of the United States Code. On July 12, 1990, 582 A.2d 936, this Court placed Brewster on interim suspension, "pending final determination of the matters pending before the Board on Professional Responsibility and pending further order of this Court."
The Board has issued a final report to this Court ("Report"). The Board found that Brewster had violated Rules 8.4(b) and 8.4(c) of the Delaware Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct. Brewster, who was incarcerated, has appeared pro se and represented to this Court that he takes no exception to the Board's findings. Therefore, the sole issue to be addressed by this Court is the form of discipline to be imposed.
Brewster argues that the appropriate sanction is a period of suspension for one or two years, retroactive to the date of his interim suspension. Disciplinary Counsel argues that Brewster should be disbarred. The Court has concluded that Brewster should be disbarred.
The Board's findings of fact with respect to the underlying charges of professional misconduct, as set forth in its Report, are in pertinent part, as follows:
The Board's conclusions of law with respect to the underlying charges of professional misconduct, as set forth in its Report, are in pertinent part, as follows:
The record reflects that Count I of the Indictment, the count to which Brewster pled guilty, charged him as follows:
The Board concluded that this conduct, which Brewster admitted when he pled guilty, and resulted in his conviction of a felony, Bank Fraud, constituted a violation of Rule 8.4(b) and (c) of the Delaware Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct. Those subsections provide that it is "professional misconduct for a lawyer to: ... (b) commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; (c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation...."
This Court has made a careful and independent review of both the factual findings and the conclusions of law that are set forth in the Board's Report. Our scope of review with regard to the Board's factual findings is to determine whether the record contains substantial evidence to support those findings. Matter of Higgins, Del.Supr., 565 A.2d 901, 906-07 (1989); Matter of Lewis, Del.Supr., 528 A.2d 1192, 1193 (1987); In re Kennedy, Del.Supr., 472 A.2d 1317, 1326 (1984); Matter of Reed, Del.Supr., 429 A.2d 987, 991 (1981). We review the Board's conclusions of law de novo. Matter of Berl, Del.Supr., 540 A.2d 410, 413 (1988). We are satisfied that the record before us clearly supports the findings of fact and the conclusions of law made by the Board in this case. Matter of Sullivan, Del.Supr., 530 A.2d 1115, 1117 (1987); Matter of Lewis, 528 A.2d  at 1196; In re Sanders, Del.Supr., 498 A.2d 148, 150 (1985); In re Frabizzio, Del.Supr., 498 A.2d 1076, 1081 (1985). See also In re Ryan, Del.Supr., 498 A.2d 515 (1985).
The inherent and exclusive authority for disciplining lawyers rests with this Court. In Re Green, Del.Supr., 464 A.2d 881, 885 (1983). This Court has wide latitude in determining the form of discipline to be imposed. In re Member of the Bar, Del.Supr., 226 A.2d 705, 707 (1967). In imposing sanctions, this Court is guided by its prior precedents. Matter of Christie, Del.Supr., 574 A.2d 845, 853 (1990). The American Bar Association has also developed standards for imposing lawyer discipline which suggest, inter alia, that a court consider the following factors: (a) the duty violated; (b) the lawyer's mental state; (c) the actual or potential injury caused by the lawyer's misconduct; and (d) the existence of aggravating or mitigating factors. ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, Standard 3.0, at 25 (Approved February, 1986). We have previously cited this and other portions of the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions with approval. See, e.g., Matter of Clyne, Del.Supr., 581 A.2d 1118, 1125 (1990); Matter of Higgins, Del.Supr., 582 A.2d 929, 932 (1990).
Disciplinary Counsel submits that the appropriate sanction for Brewster is disbarment. In support of his position, Disciplinary Counsel cites several of this Court's prior precedents, e.g., Matter of Higgins, Del.Supr., 582 A.2d 929 (1990) and Matter of Sullivan, Del.Supr., 530 A.2d 1115 (1987), as well as precedents from other jurisdictions. Matter of Smith, Az. Supr., 164 Ariz. 526, 794 P.2d 601 (1990); In Re Chuang, D.C.Supr., 575 A.2d 725 (1990); Matter of Fury, N.Y.App.Div., 145 A.D.2d 259, 538 N.Y.S.2d 950 (1989); Louisiana *1070 State Bar Assoc. v. Smith, La.Supr., 548 So. 2d 914 (1989); Matter of Bond, D.C. App., 519 A.2d 165 (1986). Disciplinary Counsel relies upon the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions. In particular, Disciplinary Counsel cites the following provision:
ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, Standard 5.11, at 36.
In the proceedings before the Board and this Court, Brewster has acknowledged that he is a member of the Bar who has failed to maintain his personal integrity by committing a serious crime. Brewster has also acknowledged that, "as a convicted felon, [not only is he] subject to discipline by [this] Court [but] that [this] Court would be subject to legitimate criticism if it were to neglect to take some substantial disciplinary action" given the nature of his misconduct. However, Brewster argues that there are several factors which distinguish his case from one in which disbarment would be required. According to Brewster, those factors are:
Brewster suggests that the appropriate sanction is a substantial suspension, a period of one or two years, retroactive from the date of his interim suspension on July 12, 1990.
Although protection of the public is a primary purpose of disciplinary action, there are other important purposes to be served by lawyer discipline. See Matter of Sullivan, 530 A.2d  at 1119; In Re Draper, Del.Supr., 317 A.2d 106, 108 (1974). As officers of the Court, members of the Bar are expected to respect and uphold the law. Disciplinary proceedings also serve to foster public confidence in the Bar, to preserve the integrity of the profession, and to deter other lawyers from similar misconduct. Matter of Sullivan, 530 A.2d  at 1119.
"[L]awyers who act illegally diminish the stature of the legal profession and reduce public confidence in the rule of law." Matter of Christie, 574 A.2d  at 851 (citing Standing Comm. on Discipline of the United States Dist. Court v. Ross, 735 F.2d 1168, 1171 (9th Cir.1984)). See C. *1071 Wolfram, Modern Legal Ethics, § 3.1 (1986). Consequently, this Court has imposed discipline for criminal conduct not arising directly from the practice of law. Matter of Christie, 574 A.2d  at 851; Matter of Sandbach, Del.Supr., 546 A.2d 345 (1988); and In Re Sanders, Del.Supr., 498 A.2d 148 (1985). In that regard, the commentary to 5.11 of the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions is relevant in Brewster's case. It provides, in part:
ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, Standard 5.11, commentary, at 36.
We must now determine an appropriate form of final discipline. Brewster has already been suspended by this Court on an interim basis. We have carefully considered the record in this case. We have considered the Board's report and the evidence of aggravating and mitigating circumstances. We also have considered the respective arguments of Disciplinary Counsel and Brewster. We have concluded that the appropriate final sanction for Brewster's failure to maintain his personal integrity by engaging in serious criminal conduct, which resulted in his federal felony conviction for Bank Fraud, is disbarment. ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, Standard 5.11, at 36. (1986).
Under our exclusive jurisdiction over the Bar of Delaware, IT IS ORDERED that David K. Brewster be disbarred from membership in the Delaware Bar. His name shall be immediately stricken from the Roll of Attorneys entitled to practice before the courts of this State.
[1]  The Board is an agency of this Court, created under Supreme Court Rule 62. In re Kennedy, Del.Supr., 472 A.2d 1317, 1318-19 (1984).
[2]  Brewster represents that he was transferred to a half-way house in West Palm Beach, Florida, on January 11, 1991, and was scheduled to be released on February 22, 1991.