Opinion ID: 1967474
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Joel Steinberg

Text: Respondent Joel Steinberg has been a member of the District Columbia Bar since 1976. He was a member of the Virginia Bar too until the State Bar Disciplinary Board accepted the resignation he tendered while several serious ethics charges were pending against him and revoked his license on November 30, 2001. Under Virginia law then in effect, the charges against Steinberg, which included misappropriation of client trust funds, were deemed admitted. See Va. Sup.Ct. R. Pt. 6, § IV, ¶ 13(I) (2000) (amended Sept. 18, 2002); [3] see also In re Sheridan, 680 A.2d 439, 440 (D.C.1996) (We have treated resignation while under investigation for misconduct as a basis for imposing reciprocal discipline in the District of Columbia.). As in the case of Laibstain, this court suspended Steinberg in the wake of the revocation of his license to practice law in Virginia and directed him to show cause before the Board on Professional Responsibility. Like Laibstain, Steinberg failed to participate in the proceedings that followed. [4] Bar Counsel urged the Board to recommend disbarment as functionally equivalent reciprocal discipline, but the Board adhered to the views it expressed in Laibstain's case and recommended revocation, again with the caveat that it would prefer disbarment if that were permitted. Bar Counsel takes exception to the Board's recommendation and asks us to disbar Steinberg.