Opinion ID: 1352489
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Second is the matter of application of the American Bar Association's Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions (Approved Draft, 1986).

Text: [2] This court has previously made it clear that in determining an appropriate disciplinary sanction, we will apply the analytical framework provided by the Standards and require hearing officers and the Disciplinary Board in every case to indicate clearly in their findings (1) the formal complaint; (2) findings of fact; (3) conclusions indicating violations of specific provisions of the Rules of Professional Conduct; (4) the sanction suggested by the ABA Standards; (5) weighing of any aggravating or mitigating factors, based upon the ABA Standards considered in determining what sanction to recommend; and (6) the sanction recommended by the hearing officer and the Disciplinary Board. [5] [3] Using the framework provided by the Standards, these questions are considered: [6] 1. What ethical duty did the lawyer violate? 2. What was the lawyer's mental state? 3. What was the extent of the actual or potential injury caused by the lawyer's misconduct? 4. Are there any aggravating or mitigating circumstances? After the first three questions have been answered, the Standards are then examined to determine the presumptive disciplinary sanction. Aggravating and mitigating circumstances are then considered to increase or decrease the presumptive sanction when determining the final sanction to be applied. [7]