Opinion ID: 2325623
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: conclusion

Text: Judge Dugan concluded that there was clear and convincing evidence that Respondent violated MRPC 3.3(a)(1), as he was not candid in his applications for admission pro hac vice filed in California state and federal courts. The judge also found that Respondent engaged in dishonesty, deceit and misrepresentation in violation of MRPC 8.4(c), and that his dishonest and deceptive conduct was prejudicial to the administration of justice because it was likely to bring the legal profession into disrepute, in violation of MRPC 8.4(d). We excerpt portions of his ruling below: There is clear and convincing evidence that Respondent left Maryland on January 31, 2007, and traveled to California with the intent to reside and/or live there. Respondent's intent may be inferred from his actions and their natural consequences beginning in January 2007. See, e.g., Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Smith, 405 Md. 107, 121, 950 A.2d 101, 108 (2008) (a person's intent must be judged in light of the circumstances attending his actions, including their natural and inevitable consequences), citing, Lee v. State, 65 Md. App. 587, 592-94, 501 A.2d 495, 498 (1985), Blount v. Boston, 351 Md. 360, 368, 718 A.2[d] 1111, 1115 (1998) (Intent may be more satisfactorily shown by the acts of the individual, rather than by his words and is best shown by objective factors.)[.] Respondent's conduct and contemporaneous statements provided clear and convincing evidence that he intended to live and/or reside in California after January 31, 2007. Within a few weeks of his arrival he entered into a lease for an apartment residence on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica for a period of 12 months. Respondent admitted that, at the time he rented the apartment, he intended to stay in the apartment for at least 12 months. Prior to April 9, 2007, he opened a bank account in a California bank using the address of the apartment he leased. Respondent received mail at the Ocean Avenue address. On April 27, 2007, correspondence from the Client Protection Fund of the Bar of Maryland was sent to Respondent at the Ocean Avenue, Santa Monica, California address. On May 14, 2007, even though he had a valid Maryland Driver's License at the time, he obtained a California Driver's License because he was told by a California police officer that if he lived in California for 30 days or more he had to get a driver's license. On or about June 5, 2007, Respondent represented in a civil complaint he filed as a plaintiff in the Superior Court of California for the County of Los Angeles that he resided in Los Angeles County, California, and that he was a `California resident and citizens [sic] who purchased... coffee in the State of California during the past three years....' Respondent's choice of words in other statements made in 2007 and 2008 provide further evidence that Respondent was not merely visiting or temporarily staying in California but intended to live there for the foreseeable future. Respondent wrote to his client Arthur Wartell on or about April 3, 2007, and informed him that he had moved to Santa Monica recently. On March 14, 2008, Respondent wrote to Bar Counsel that he had recently relocated to California and was applying for membership in the California Bar. In his letter to Bar Counsel, Respondent used a California return address. On October 29, 2008, Respondent testified in another matter before the Circuit Court for Montgomery County that he moved to California on January 31, 2007 and that his residence when he first moved was located at 1431 Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. In addition, Respondent maintained no real connection with Maryland. He had neither a residence nor a business office in Maryland after January 31, 2007. At that time, he no longer rented either living or office space. The only evidence Respondent can point to to show that he was a resident of Maryland after January 31, 2007, are the facts that he authorized the UPS Store to receive mail on his behalf and on behalf of the Made in America Foundation[ [15] ] and did not cancel his voter registration. In Maryland, evidence that a person is registered to vote is ordinarily persuasive and should be given considerable weight when the question of domicile is a[n] issue. While evidence of the exercise of suffrage in a certain place is not conclusive and may be overbalanced by other circumstances. Comptroller v. Lenderking, 268 Md. 613, 619, 303 A.2d 402, 405 (1973). In this case, Respondent did not vote in Maryland after January 31, 2007. Since the Application for Delivery of Mail Through Agent signed by Respondent is dated July 13, 2007, from January 31, 2007 until that date, Respondent had no connection to Maryland other than the voter registration. Furthermore, the UPS Store records indicated that mailbox number 118 was closed on May 31, 2008, and another box was not opened by Respondent until December 5, 2008. Between those two dates, Respondent was again without even a rented mailbox on which to base his claim that he was a resident of Maryland. Respondent had a duty to be candid with the Court. This duty required not only that he refrain from misrepresentations but that he correct any false information previously provided. See, e.g., Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Bleecker, 414 Md. 147, 176, 994 A.2d 928, 945 (2010) (A lawyer's failure to correct an earlier misrepresentation to the Court violated MRPC 3.3(a).)[.] Respondent failed to honor that obligation when he falsely represented that he was not a resident of California in the applications for admission pro hac vice on June 19, June 28, and November 16, 2007. He, therefore, violated MRPC 3.3(a) and 8.4(c). In addition, the Respondent[] represented that he maintained a law office at 7272 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 300, Bethesda, Maryland, in the applications filed in June 2007 in the Wartell and K-2 cases. These representations were false and misleading, in that, at the time, he no longer had such an office. On the Panera application, which was filed in November 2007, after the State Bar of California inquiries, Respondent represented that he had a law office at 4938 Hampden Lane, Suite 118, Bethesda, Maryland, when in fact he had no such office. These misrepresentations concerning the location of his law office also violated MRPC 3.3(a) and 8.4(c). The rules governing admissions in both Federal and California State Courts used the term resident. [16] While the rules do not expressly define the term resident, it is apparent that the purpose of the rules is to keep lawyers who are admitted in jurisdictions other than California from moving to California, establishing a residence, being regularly employed or regularly engaging in substantial business, professional or other activities in California, from using the pro hac vice admission rules to engage in the practice of law in California without going through California's admissions process. That issue was addressed in Paciulan v. George, et. al, 38 F.Supp.2d 1128 (N.D.Ca.1999), affd, 229 F.3d 1226 (2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1077, 121 S.Ct. 775, 148 L.Ed.2d 673 (2001), a case in which the plaintiffs, California residents who were admitted to practice law in jurisdictions other than California, challenged the constitutionality of a California rule of Court, which prohibited California residents from appearing pro hac vice in state court.... The United States District Court dismissed the complaint and found that there was a rational basis for California to limit pro hac vice admissions to non-residents in order to prevent California residents from using the rule to circumvent the State's stringent Bar membership requirements. Furthermore, there is clear and convincing evidence that Respondent engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit and/or misrepresentation, in violation of MRPC 8.4(c), in his communications with the State Bar of California, Brewer and Moss. It is clear from Respondent's communications with Brewer that he understood that the State Bar of California was trying to obtain the address of his residence in the usual sense of the word. Brewer testified that, after she spoke with the representative of the California Bar, she made it clear to Respondent that they were looking for the address of the place where he lived. Respondent obviously understood that the Bar Association was requiring that he provide a residential address because he referred to the mailbox number as Apt. 118. Respondent also told Brewer that he lived with his girlfriend at an apartment located at the Hampden Lane address and conducted his law practice there. Respondent clearly knew that both of these representations were false. These misrepresentations also constituted violations of MRPC 8.4(c). Respondent testified at trial that he presently believed that he is a domiciliary of the State of Maryland and was, at all relevant times, a domiciliary of the State of Maryland. He indicated that his arrangement with the UPS Store to receive his mail and the fact that he was still registered to vote in Maryland was evidence of the fact that he is a domiciliary of Maryland. In light of the conduct and representations in 2007 and 2008, Respondent's testimony is not credible. Furthermore, if Respondent actually believed that renting a mailbox and being on the voter roles in Maryland made him a resident of Maryland for purposes of the applications for admission pro hac vice, it would not have been necessary for Respondent to mislead Brewer and Moss by using the designation Apt. on the email and by telling Brewer that the Hampden Lane address was an apartment where he lived with his girlfriend and from which he conducted his practice of law in Maryland. The issue here, however, does not rest on the technical definition of resident/domiciliary for voting or other purposes. Rather, the issue at the heart of this matter is whether Respondent was candid and/or truthful when he represented to the California Courts that he was not a resident of California for purposes of the rules governing admission to the Courts in which he sought to practice. Was Respondent truthful when, knowing that 4938 Hampden Lane was the address of a mailbox rental business, he represented to Moss, Brewer and the State Bar of California that his residence address in Maryland [was] 4938 Hampden Lane, Apt. 118, Bethesda, MD? Was he truthful when he signed the form that he knew would be returned to the State Bar of California that indicated that his residential address was 4938 Hampden Lane, # 118, Bethesda, MD? The answer to these questions is no. Respondent's testimony concerning the Whole Foods complaint, assuming arguendo that it was truthful, contradicted Respondent's contention that he believed he was not a resident of California for purposes of the pro hac vice applications. In an attempt to explain his representations that he was a California resident in the Whole Foods complaint, Respondent testified that he believed he was a temporary resident of California when he filed the complaint on June 7, 2007. It follows, therefore, that Respondent made intentionally false and/or misleading representations that he was not a resident, temporary or otherwise, of California in his subsequent applications filed in the Wartell, K-2 and Panera cases. Respondent's interpretation of the terms residence and domicile leads to the absurd conclusion that renting a mailbox in Maryland would establish residence and/or domicile in Maryland. If so, Respondent established his residence and/or domicile in California when he entered the agreement to receive his mail with the California UPS Store located at 1223 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica, California. In support of his position that he was and remains a resident of Maryland, Respondent submitted a memorandum from an Assistant Attorney General to all Clerks of Circuit Courts dated September 20, 2004. Respondent did not testify or offer other evidence that he relied on the representations contained in the memorandum at the time he was engaging in the conduct in question. The memorandum pertains to Tax-General § 10-912(d)(1) and attempts to answer the question: Who is a Resident? The opinion in this memorandum is, of course, not binding on this Court and, in any case, only applies for purposes of the Tax-General Article. Furthermore, the information contained in the memorandum does not support Respondent's contention that a rented mailbox and voter registration made him a resident of Maryland. According to the memorandum, the term resident means: an individual, other than a fiduciary, who is domiciled in Maryland on the last day of the taxable year or for more than 6 months of the taxable year, maintained a place of abode in this State, whether domiciled in the State or not.[ [17] ] According to the memorandum the term domicile has been defined as the place where a natural person has his or her true, fixed, permanent home, without any present intention of removing therefrom, and to which he or she has, whenever away, the intention to return. A natural person can have only one domicile at a time. Respondent did not have a fixed, permanent home in Maryland as of the last day of 2007 and did not maintain a place of abode in Maryland for 6 months of the tax year. After January 31, 2007, his only residence and/or place of abode was in California. Respondent suggested that, if he had the financial resources to maintain an apartment in Maryland, the present disciplinary action would not have been brought. Had Respondent actually maintained a residence in Maryland after January 31, 2007, his argument that he was a resident would certainly be stronger, however, that factor alone would not establish that he was a resident of Maryland. Although actual residence and voting in a jurisdiction have been considered the most important objective circumstances indicating domicile, numerous other factors are also pertinent to show a person's intent. These include such things as: paying taxes, statements on tax returns, ownership of property, where the person's children attend school, the address at which one receives mail, statements as to residency contained in contracts or other documents, statements on licenses or governmental documents, where furniture and other personal belongings are kept, which jurisdictions' banks are utilized, membership in professional, fraternal, religious or social organizations, where one's regular physicians and dentists are located and where one maintains charge accounts. Blount v. Boston, 351 Md. 360, 369-370, 718 A.2d 1111, 1116 (1998). In an effort to justify his misrepresentations in the applications filed with the Courts, Respondent pointed out that he did not have to obtain admission pro hac vice and could have just been out-of-state counsel and that it was Moss who wanted him to proceed in that manner and Respondent agreed to do so. The Rules of Professional Conduct require that a lawyer's representations to a Court must be truthful and candid, whether the representation was required or voluntary. A lawyer is intimately associated with the administration of the law and should rightfully be expected to set an example in observing the law. Public confidence in the legal profession is a critical facet of the proper administration of justice. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Clark, 363 Md. 169, 183, 767 A.2d 865, 872 (2001). An attorney engages in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, in violation of MRPC 8.4(d), when his or her conduct negatively impacts on [sic] the efficacy of the courts or legal profession. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Rand, 411 Md. 83, 96, 981 A.2d 1234, 1242 (2009). Respondent engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, in violation of MRPC 8.4 (d), when he filed applications for admission pro hac vice that contained misrepresentations and when he provided false and misleading information to Moss, Brewer and the State Bar of California ....