Title: In Re McCormick
Citation: 281 Or. 693, 576 P.2d 371
Docket Number: N/A
State: Oregon
Issuer: Oregon Supreme Court
Date: March 28, 1978

576 P.2d 371 (1978)
281 Or. 693
In re Complaint As to the Conduct of Ross McCormick, Accused.

Supreme Court of Oregon, In Banc.
Submitted on Record January 10, 1978.
Decided March 28, 1978.
No appearances.
PER CURIAM.
This is a disciplinary proceeding by the Oregon State Bar. The charges alleged in the complaint against the accused include: (1) the conversion to his own use of funds belonging to a client and deposited in the client's trust account; (2) the writing of an NSF check on his trust account and the later use of funds of another client to make that check "good"; and (3) the alteration of a deed after its execution by causing his secretary to change the name of the grantee.[1]
The Trial Board found the accused guilty of the first charge; that the bar failed to prove the second charge (although finding that the accused wrote the NSF check); and that the accused was not guilty of the third charge (although finding that the accused changed the grantee of the deed). It recommended that the accused be suspended from the practice of law for a period of one year, stating that the accused had been "extremely open and straight forward in his testimony"; that "his problems were of a temporary nature * * * caused by a combination of alcohol and marital problems"; that he "has the potential to be a capable and reliable member of the Oregon State Bar"; and that "no client suffered any financial loss due to the accused's conduct."
*372 The Disciplinary Review Board agreed that the accused was guilty of the first charge, but disagreed with findings by the Trial Board on the remaining two charges, concluding that the issuance of the NSF check was unethical even if the accused did not use the funds of another client to make that check "good" and that the accused committed an unethical act when he caused the alteration of the deed. It recommends that the accused be permanently disbarred because of his conversion of clients' funds, based upon the citation of previous decisions of this court.
Based upon our examination of the record we agree that the facts relating to this charge are as summarized in the decision of the Disciplinary Review Board as follows:
Regardless of the disagreement between the Trial Board and the Disciplinary Review Board on the second and third charges, we agree with the Disciplinary Review Board in its recommendation that the accused be permanently disbarred because of his conversion of clients' funds. As recently held in In re Pierson, 280 Or. 513, *373 571 P.2d 907 (1977), a lawyer who converts to his own use money belonging to his clients, as in this case, may be disbarred even for a single conversion of such funds and even though full restitution has been made.
We also agree with the Disciplinary Review Board in its conclusion that the explanation and excuse by the accused for such misconduct was insufficient as a basis for the imposition of any lesser penalty than is usual in such cases. See cases cited in In re Pierson, supra, at 518, 571 P.2d 907.
The accused is permanently disbarred from the practice of law in Oregon.
[1]  The complaint also included three other charges which need not be discussed. The last of these was the often-used "catch-all" charge. The Trial Board's opinion says that this charge is "inappropriate in most disciplinary proceedings and particularly inappropriate here." The Disciplinary Review Board concluded that "the Trial Board erred in [that] comment and in its refusal to consider this charge" and asks for "a statement from [this] Court on this point." A resolution of this question is not necessary to our decision in this case and we do not believe that this case is an appropriate one for discussion of this question.