Opinion ID: 2258485
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Board's Recommended Conditions for Reinstatement

Text: The Board concluded that respondent's reinstatement should be conditioned on his compliance with Bar Counsel's subpoena duces tecum and the order of this court enforcing it, the authority for which is established under D.C. Bar R. XI, § 18(d). However, the Board declined to recommend that respondent's reinstatement be conditioned on responding to the six sets of questions set forth in Bar Counsel's letter of May 19, 1998. [12] The Board gave the following reasons for its decision: (1) most of the information could be readily obtained from the documents covered by Bar Counsel's subpoena duces tecum ( i.e., questions 1 and portions of questions 4 and 5); (2) there is no provision for discovery by way of interrogatories to a respondent as propounded by Bar Counsel; (3) respondent's Fifth Amendment privilege protects him from disclosure of some of the information in this quasi-criminal proceeding; (4) some of the questions are overly broad, vague and confusing, and call for legal conclusions ( e.g., questions 4, 5 and 6); and (5) in this type of proceeding, where Bar Counsel has the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence, a respondent who has filed a general denial should not be obligated to respond to vague and overly broad questions that require him or her to make Bar Counsel's case. Bar Counsel challenges the Board's conclusions and asserts that an attorney should be able to explain his conduct in light of the disciplinary rules. [13] An attorney under investigation has an obligation to respond to Bar Counsel's written inquiries in the conduct of an investigation, subject to constitutional limitations. D.C. Bar R. XI, § 8(a). Under the Board's rules implementing this inquiry rule, after Bar Counsel sends notice to the attorney that a formal investigation into his or her conduct has been docketed, along with a copy of the complaint or other document prompting the investigation, respondent is required to respond by set[ting] forth [his or her] position with respect to the allegations contained in the complaint .... Board Rules 2.7 & 2.8. Consistent with Rule XI, § 8(a), the Board's implementing rules provide that Bar Counsel may request ... respondent... to provide information concerning the matters under investigation.... Board Rule 2.9. If respondent does not respond, then Bar Counsel may request an appropriate order from the Board's Chair, to whom the Board has delegated the authority to decide the issue. Board Rule 2.10. The Board does not consider this procedure to be the equivalent of a formal discovery process, permitting interrogatories to be propounded by Bar Counsel to an attorney under investigation. [14] Generally, [t]he right to discovery stems from statutes or court rules providing for discovery. In re Herndon, 596 A.2d 592, 594 (D.C.1991) (citations omitted). However, the only Bar rule providing explicitly for discovery addresses the right of the respondent to reasonable discovery. See D.C. Bar R. XI, § 8(f); [15] see generally Herndon, 596 A.2d at 594-95 (addressing the extent to which reasonable discovery had been provided under discovery rules promulgated by the Board under the authority of Bar Rule XI, § 8(f)). To implement this discovery provision, the Board adopted Rule 3.1 (governing how respondents can gain access to material in Bar Counsel's files and Rule 3.2 (providing a mechanism for respondents to obtain discovery from non-parties by deposition or by production of documents)). Again, these rules do not provide for discovery by Bar Counsel from a respondent in a disciplinary proceeding. This court has held that `procedural requirements analogous to those of other `contested cases' must be observed in attorney disciplinary cases.' Herndon, supra, 596 A.2d at 594 (quoting In re Thorup, 432 A.2d 1221, 1225 (D.C.1981)) (other citation omitted). However, we have recognized that parties are not generally entitled to discovery as a matter of constitutional right in such proceedings. See id. at 595 (citing Silverman v. Commodity Futures Trading Comm'n, 549 F.2d 28, 33 (7th Cir.1977)) (other citations omitted). Neither the District of Columbia Administrative Procedure Act (DCAPA), D.C.Code § 2-509 (2004), nor its federal counterpart, the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §§ 551-559 (2004), provide for discovery. In this jurisdiction, the rules of discovery are much more restricted for the prosecutor in a criminal proceeding. [16] See Herndon, supra, 596 A.2d at 596 (citing Super. Ct.Crim. R. 16 & 17); see also Morris v. United States, 622 A.2d 1116, 1124-25 (D.C.), cert. denied 510 U.S. 899, 114 S.Ct. 270, 126 L.Ed.2d 221 (1993) (Discovery in criminal trials, especially discovery of the defense case, is very limited because of the adversarial nature of criminal prosecutions.). In adopting rules permitting discovery by a prosecutor in a criminal proceeding, courts and legislatures have proceeded with caution because of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of effective assistance of counsel, the attorney-client privilege, and the attorney work product doctrine. [17] Middleton v. United States, 401 A.2d 109, 115 (D.C.1979) (concluding that it was error for the trial court to compel disclosure of evidence gathered by the defense investigator absent statutory or other authority). While sensitive to Bar Counsel's need to gather information, the Board determined that it should not impose a reinstatement requirement that extended beyond the confines of the existing procedure, i.e., procedures that do not provide for formal discovery and that do not permit Bar Counsel to propound interrogatory-like questions to a respondent. [18] The Board questions the propriety of compelling a respondent to answer what are essentially interrogatories in a disciplinary case, which is quasi-criminal in nature. [19] See Williams, supra, 464 A.2d at 118-19 (noting that disciplinary proceedings are quasi-criminal and that attorneys subject to them are entitled to procedural due process safeguards). The Board also expressed concern that, without the benefit of counsel at the investigative stage, a respondent might provide incomplete or inaccurate information in an effort to cooperate that could later form the basis for an increased sanction. Given the nature of the proceeding and the competing interests, we agree that interrogatories, as provided for under civil court rules, should not be incorporated into the disciplinary process without promulgation of rules governing their use. That is not to say that attorneys under investigation have no obligation to respond to Bar Counsel's inquiries, a concern raised by Bar Counsel. On the contrary, as previously stated, Rule XI, § 8(a) requires an attorney under investigation to respond to Bar Counsel's written inquiries, ... subject to constitutional limitations. See In re Lenoir, 585 A.2d 771, 780 (D.C.1991); In re Jones, 521 A.2d 1119 (D.C.1986); Haupt, supra, 444 A.2d at 317. The Board has not concluded otherwise; it has simply held that some of Bar Counsel's broad questions exceeded the scope of written inquiries contemplated by Rule XI, § 8(a), the information would be available through documents to be produced, or the questions were the proper subject of challenge on constitutional grounds. Even assuming that the inquiries contemplated under Rule XI, § 8(a) were tantamount to the interrogatories allowed under Super. Ct. Civ. R. 26 (general provisions governing discovery, including written interrogatories), such discovery would be subject to the limitation of reasonableness under the circumstances. See Herndon, supra, 596 A.2d at 595 (holding that where the right to discovery arises, it is satisfied by providing discovery that is reasonable under the circumstances). Even under the liberal rules of discovery applicable in civil proceedings, [20] the trial court may limit discovery of relevant matter in some instances upon its own initiative or pursuant to a protective order such as when `the discovery is unduly burdensome or expensive taking into account the needs of the case, the amount in controversy, limitations on the parties' resources and the importance of the issues at stake in the litigation. Id. (citing Super. Ct. Civ. R. 26(b)(1)). In deciding limitations appropriate for discovery in a civil proceeding, a court has substantial discretion, and its decision will not be disturbed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion. Mampe v. Ayerst Labs., 548 A.2d 798, 803-04 (D.C.1988). Under that standard, we discern no abuse of discretion in the Board's determination. The Board determined that the information requested in Bar Counsel's question 2 and parts of questions 4 and 5 could be readily obtained from the documents covered in Bar Counsel's subpoena duces tecum, enforced by the court's order. [21] Bar Counsel contends that whether these inquiries will be answered by the documents respondent is required to produce is speculative. It was not unreasonable for the Board to conclude that the nature and dates of respondent's representation of British Gary and/or Harold O. Butler (including the time periods and basis) and names of the parties to the mortgage and second trust transaction and dates, as requested by Bar Counsel, would be revealed in the related documents, which are the subject of the subpoena. [22] See Super. Ct. Civ. R. 26(b)(1) (authorizing limitations of discovery where information can be obtained from some other more convenient source or the party has had an opportunity to obtain the information sought). The Board determined that questions 4, 5 and 6 were overly broad in requesting respondent to explain in detail his conduct or to do so in light of the disciplinary rules, particularly after respondent had interposed a general denial. Even under the standard for liberal civil discovery, the Board acted within its discretion in declining, on reconsideration, to compel answers to questions 4, 5 and 6 on the grounds that they were overly broad, vague, burdensome and called for legal conclusions. See Snyder v. Maryland Cas. Co., 187 A.2d 894, 895-96 (D.C.1963) (finding no abuse of discretion in the trial court's refusal to compel responses to interrogatories that were unreasonably burdensome and called for opinions and conclusions); see also Super. Ct. Civ. R. 26(b)(1)(a)(iii). Finally, the Board found that [t]o the extent that the questions asked by Bar Counsel would require respondent to explain actions that the Auditor-Master had described as `a fraudulent conveyance,' [r]espondent had a right to interpose an objection based on constitutional limitations and decline to provide a response. The privilege against self-incrimination can be asserted in any proceeding, including administrative, investigatory or adjudicatory ones. Carter v. United States, 684 A.2d 331, 338 (D.C.1996) (quoting Kastigar v. United States, 406 U.S. 441, 443-45, 92 S.Ct. 1653, 32 L.Ed.2d 212 (1972)). Bar Counsel argues that respondent did not demonstrate that he will incur criminal liability. Fraudulent conduct may constitute a crime under our criminal statutes. See D.C.Code § 22-3221 (2001); see also Beard v. South Main Bank, 615 A.2d 203, 210 (D.C.1992) (recognizing that potential witnesses in a civil proceeding would likely have a Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination for allegedly fraudulent conduct in Texas or the District of Columbia) (citations omitted). The Fifth Amendment `protects against any disclosures that the witness reasonably believes could be used in a criminal prosecution or could lead to other evidence that might be so used.' Littlejohn v. United States, 705 A.2d 1077, 1083 (D.C.1997) (quoting Kastigar, 406 U.S. at 445, 92 S.Ct. 1653). Given the allegations in this case, we find no error in the Board's decision recognizing respondent's right to assert his Fifth Amendment privilege and therefore adopt the Board's recommendation against requiring an answer to questions that implicated it as a condition of reinstatement.