Opinion ID: 1058757
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: relevant proceedings and facts

Text: In an order dated September 16, 2005, this Court affirmed the Disciplinary Board's order finding that Walter Franklin Green, IV, had violated Rules 8.4(b) and 1.3(a) of the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct (the Disciplinary Rules). Green v. Virginia State Bar, Record No. 050289 (September 16, 2005). This Court, however, concluded that the evidence did not support the Disciplinary Board's additional finding that Green's pattern of failing to appear in court violated Disciplinary Rule 1.3(a). Id. Accordingly, we vacated the sanction suspending Green's license to practice law in this Commonwealth for 60 days and remanded the case to the Disciplinary Board for reconsideration of an appropriate sanction. Id. On remand, the Disciplinary Board advised Green that it would convene a hearing via telephonic conference call to reconsider what sanction to impose for his violations of the Disciplinary Rules. In a pleading filed with the Disciplinary Board, Green objected to the telephonic conference call and asserted that it was a procedurally inadequate substitute for a hearing and was not a suitable forum for the reception of evidence. At the beginning of the hearing, Green again objected to the hearing being conducted via telephonic conference call. Green claimed that he wished to introduce documents and witness testimony from his office staff to substantiate the adverse economic impact on his legal practice caused by an allegedly untimely press release by the Virginia State Bar (Bar) on November 22, 2004. In that press release, the Bar announced that on November 19, 2004, the Disciplinary Board had suspended Green's license to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia for a period of 60 days. The press release further stated the Disciplinary Board had concluded that Green failed to act diligently and committed a wrongful act reflecting adversely on his fitness to practice law during his representation of two brothers in a narcotics case. [1] The Disciplinary Board overruled Green's objection and proceeded with the hearing telephonically. Prior to and at the hearing, Green submitted various documents that he wished to introduce in mitigation of a sanction pursuant to the Rules of this Court, Part 6, § IV, Para. 13(I)(2)(f)(2). [2] The documents included the Disciplinary Board's 2004 press release and two newspaper articles, both of which discussed the suspension of his license to practice law. One of the articles appeared in the November 24, 2004 edition of a newspaper circulated in the area where Green resides, and the other article was from the Virginia Lawyer Register. In an order dated January 3, 2006, the chairman of the Disciplinary Board panel hearing Green's case ruled that certain documents Green submitted prior to the hearing were irrelevant and inadmissible. Those documents included the Disciplinary Board's 2004 press release. That order, however, allowed Green to present evidence and argument relevant to the imposition of an appropriate sanction. At the beginning of the telephonic hearing held on January 10, 2006, the Disciplinary Board overruled the January 3, 2006 order in part and ruled it would hear only argument with regard to an appropriate sanction. [3] The Disciplinary Board decided to base its reconsideration of the sanction solely on the record from the prior disciplinary proceedings held on November 19, 2004 and the order of this Court remanding the case to the Disciplinary Board. After deciding it would hear only argument, the Disciplinary Board, on the other hand, ruled neither Green's documents nor the testimony he wanted to offer were admissible. Upon hearing argument of counsel for the Bar and argument of Green, in proper person, the Disciplinary Board concluded that the seriousness of the two charges of misconduct affirmed by the . . . Court and Green's extensive disciplinary record merited the previously imposed sanction, a 60-day suspension of Green's license to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Green appeals from the Disciplinary Board's order of suspension dated January 24, 2006.