Opinion ID: 2279056
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Disciplinary Proceeding before the Hearing Committee and the Board

Text: In February 1999, Bar Counsel filed charges against respondent, alleging that he violated Rule 8.4(b) by committing a criminal act (forgery) that reflects adversely on his honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer, and Rule 8.4(c) by engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and/or misrepresentation. Respondent, proceeding pro se, did not file an answer to the charges. Instead, he filed a motion for an extension of time in which to file an answer on April 5, 1999, which he withdrew on April 15, 1999. That same day, respondent filed a document titled Respondent's Assertion of his Fifth Amendment Right Not to Answer the Petition in his Proceeding. [2] In addition, respondent filed a number of prehearing motions including motions to dismiss, to strike charges and exclude evidence, and for protective orders. On June 11, 1999, an evidentiary hearing was held during which Bar Counsel presented testimony from Mr. Eaton, a partner at respondent's former law firm, Ungaretti & Harris, and Charles Moulton, the Assistant Attorney General for the State of Arkansas involved in the state's natural resources litigation. Although respondent did not testify during the hearing, he made an opening statement and cross-examined the witnesses. In addition, respondent sought to introduce three exhibits: (1) the billing records from Ungaretti & Harris reflecting the time that respondent and others at the law firm billed to the state of Arkansas between June 1994 and September 1997; (2) a pleading filed by respondent in a Superfund litigation before the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, in which he represented the court-appointed receiver for Vertac Chemical Corporation, and (3) an April 22, 1994 memorandum from Mr. Moulton and others proposing that the state of Arkansas enter into a consulting contract with respondent to assist in the state's natural resources damage claims, together with a fax cover sheet to respondent transmitting a copy of the memorandum. The Hearing Committee denied respondent's request. Later, the Board confirmed that pursuant to Board Rule 7.7, respondent's failure to file an answer to the specification of charges precluded him from introducing evidence at the hearing. In addition, the Board found that respondent had failed to show how any of the three documents would exonerate him. On December 17, 2002, the Hearing Committee issued its Report and Recommendation finding that respondent had violated Rule 8.4(b) when he forged Mr. Moulton's name on the contingency fee agreement that he provided to his firm, and Rule 8.4(c) by engaging in dishonest acts which fall under the definition of fraud, deceit and misrepresentation. On July 24, 2003, the Board issued its Report and Recommendation, which adopted the Hearing Committee's findings of fact that respondent had violated Rules 8.4(b) and (c) and concurred in the recommended sanction of a three-year suspension with reinstatement conditioned upon a showing of fitness. Respondent has excepted to the findings, conclusions of law and recommended sanction.