Opinion ID: 2558572
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Range of Sanction

Text: The Hearing Committee has carefully reviewed Bar Counsel's post-hearing submission recommending disbarment. Respondent made no submission at all. After considering the forgoing, and the necessary factors for recommending a sanction listed above, the Committee has determined that disbarment is appropriate. The seriousness of the misconduct, coupled with the level of dishonesty and the number of violations, presents a very significant question about Respondent's fitness to practice law. Bar Counsel presented clear and convincing evidence that Respondent submitted falsified documents to the City Council ( see Findings of Fact 43-48, 62, supra ), and at least three falsified exhibits to the Hearing Committee. See Findings of Fact 69-76, supra. The events occurred over a long period, during which time Respondent had ample opportunity to accept responsibility for her actions. Instead, she did the oppositeshe falsified documents to submit to a Hearing Committee that was considering charges that she had, inter alia, submitted falsified documents to another body. In addition, Respondent, who did not testify, made false statements to the Committee in her pleadings and representations. See Findings of Fact 64-79, supra. While there was no impact on clients, there has been prejudice with an undefined effect on third parties, and prejudice to the judicial and disciplinary systems, as shown above. Similarly, because Respondent sought to include many of her falsifications in her civil action against the District of Columbia, there was attempted prejudice to that proceeding, albeit unsuccessful because the court granted judgment as a matter of law to the District after Respondent presented her evidence. Finally, Respondent interfered with the proper functioning of the disciplinary process by her deceitful conduct with Bar Counsel and the Hearing Committee. Respondent's continued misconduct over a period of several years and the lack of remorse for her actions led this Committee to focus on disbarment as an appropriate sanction. Disbarment is consistent with sanctions imposed in other cases. In re Goffe involved a respondent who forged evidence and gave false testimony that prejudiced a judicial proceeding. 641 A.2d 458 (D.C.1994) (per curiam). In Goffe the attorney was disbarred for offering the Internal Revenue Service a check he knew was altered and for lying under oath in tax court, claiming he did not tender the check; submitting contracts with signatures he forged to a trial court in a separate action; and fabricating notarizations of documents filed with the recorder of deeds. Id. Thus, in Goffe, as is the case here, the attorney was found to have lied and to have created and presented falsified documents. The only difference from Goffe is that it was clear there, but not here, that Goffe's conduct was motivated by economic gain. In making its decision to disbar Goffe, the court noted that Goffe's disciplinary violations were all in order to obtain an economic benefit. Goffe, 641 A.2d at 465. Here, despite Bar Counsel's arguments, the connection between Respondent's conduct and her efforts to obtain monetary compensation based on wrongful dismissal are too attenuated to be convincing. And certainly no prospect of economic gain motivated Respondent's misconduct during the disciplinary proceedings, because her civil case had already been dismissed. Although Goffe provides support for disbarment, it is not conclusive absent evidence of a personal economic benefit as a motivating or otherwise significant factor in the Respondent's conduct. The Committee therefore looked at a more recent decision for guidance in determining whether a recommendation of disbarment is appropriate here. In In re Cleaver-Bascombe, 986 A.2d 1191 (D.C.2010), the Court of Appeals held that the Board's finding of clear and convincing evidence that the attorney had submitted a fraudulent voucher seeking payment from taxpayer funds for work she did not perform and had given false testimony to cover-up the misconduct at a disciplinary hearing required disbarment, see id., even though the Board had recommended a two-year suspension with a fitness requirement for reinstatement. As in Goffe, Cleaver-Bascombe engaged in the misconduct for the purpose of personal financial gain; however, the Court was clear in its opinion that it was the conduct itself, not the motive behind it, that warranted disbarment. See Cleaver-Bascombe, 986 A.2d at 1200. The Court looked at whether Cleaver-Bascombe's actions were consistent with other serious misconduct that warranted disbarment. See id. at 1199-1200. It determined that submitting a fraudulent voucher amongst multiple valid ones and then testifying to its authenticity was intolerable attorney conduct and that disbarment was well within the range of sanctions imposed in other cases. Respondent's misconduct was more egregious than Cleaver-Bascombe's. Although Cleaver-Bascombe falsified documents and lied under oath, her actions involved only one episode of misconduct and put only her own career and reputation at risk. See id. Despite the fact that it was Cleaver-Bascombe's first offense, the Court determined that disbarment was the appropriate sanction. See id. at 1198-1201. Respondent's misconduct, on the other hand, spanned multiple years, affected three separate proceedings, and negatively impacted the careers and reputations of other individuals and the integrity of the disciplinary system. Like Cleaver-Bascombe, Respondent lied in perpetuation of her previous dishonesty in an attempt to avoid a sanction rather than showing remorse for her misconduct. Respondent also has a record of discipline, unlike Cleaver-Bascombe. The appropriate sanction in a disciplinary action is one that (a) protects the public and the courts; (b) is necessary to maintain the integrity of the profession; and (c) will deter other attorneys from engaging in similar misconduct. In re Uchendu, 812 A.2d 933, 941 (D.C.2002). Under this standard, the underlying facts of this case, Respondent's response to the disciplinary process, and her previous disciplinary history, disbarment is the proper sanction. The record shows that Respondent lacks the moral fitness to remain a member of the legal profession. Cleaver-Bascombe, 986 A.2d at 1200-1201.