Opinion ID: 2343697
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: complaint of terrence k. bradley

Text: Petitioner asserts that Respondent failed in his duty to abide by the Maryland Rules of Professional conduct, specifically Rule 8.1. Support for Petitioner's assertions was best summarized by Petitioner's Request for Admission of Facts and Genuineness of Documents, which was admitted into evidence as `Petitioner's Exhibit I.' Respondent agreed to represent Terrence K. Bradley in October of 2000 on a criminal assault charge and an expungement of records relating to a separate, prior charge. Respondent handled the defense of the assault charge adequately, but failed to respond to Mr. Bradley's request for information relating to the expungement. Respondent received a letter on May 5, 2004 from Bar Counsel requesting a response to a complaint made by Mr. Bradley. Respondent failed to respond to the May 5, 2004 letter. Respondent received a letter on June 17, 2004 requesting a response to Mr. Bradley's complaint. Respondent failed to respond to the June 17, 2004 letter. Respondent received a letter on July 2, 2004 from bar counsel requesting a response to Mr. Bradley's complaint. Once again, Respondent failed to answer the letter. Respondent at no point submitted any response to Bar Counsel's request for information in regards to Mr. Bradley's complaint. Respondent offered mitigation about his mother's illness, his father's illness and ultimate death, his depression, his alcohol use to treat said depression, his treatment for alcohol abuse, and his relapse with alcohol. The Court did not find Respondent's mitigation to be persuasive as it failed to reach the preponderance of the evidence standard as required by the Maryland Rules. This court finds that, as a matter of law, Respondent has violated Rule 1.4[ [9] ] in failing to address Mr. Bradley's request for information as well as Rule 8.1 in failing to answer the repeated queries of Bar Counsel. Neither the petitioner nor the respondent takes exceptions to the hearing court's findings of facts or conclusions of law. The respondent did appear for argument but did not file a recommendation for sanction. The petitioner has made a recommendation for disposition, that the respondent be disbarred. In support of that recommendation, the petitioner relies on the respondent's disbarment from the practice of law in the federal District Court, referencing the circumstances that resulted in that sanction, which it characterizes as a series of repeated failures on the part of the Respondent to meet court-mandated discovery deadlines and to comply with court orders. In addition to the disbarment, the petitioner relies on the misconduct the hearing court found the respondent to have engaged in in connection with the two complaints filed with the petitioner. Of particular importance to the petitioner is the respondent's failure or refusal to respond to multiple letters from Bar Counsel requesting a response to the complaint, an omission, characterized as disdain, it equated with the disrespect [the respondent] demonstrated to the U.S. District Court's Disciplinary and Admissions Committee. Also relevant, of course, is the nature of the misconduct itself and its effect  failing to act with reasonable diligence, failing to keep the clients informed and the ultimate abandonment of the clients, without returning their file, with the result that any cause of action they may have had was lost. The purpose of disciplinary proceedings and the sanctions that flow from them is well settled. It is, as we have stated often, to protect the public. Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Maryland v. Pennington 387 Md. 565, 601-602, 876 A.2d 642, 663-64 (2005); Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Maryland v. Kreamer, 387 Md. 503, 533-34, 876 A.2d 79, 97-98 (2005); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Steinberg, 385 Md. 696, 703, 870 A.2d 603, 607 (2005); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Stein, 373 Md. 531, 533, 819 A.2d 372, 375 (2003); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Sheinbein, 372 Md. 224, 255, 812 A.2d 981, 999 (2002); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Powell, 369 Md. 462, 474, 800 A.2d 782, 789 (2002); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Hess, 352 Md. 438, 453, 722 A.2d 905, 913 (1999); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Webster, 348 Md. 662, 678, 705 A.2d 1135, 1143 (1998); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Awuah, 346 Md. 420, 435, 697 A.2d 446, 454 (1997). It is not to punish the erring attorney. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Christopher, 383 Md. 624, 639, 861 A.2d 692, 701 (2004); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Wyatt, 323 Md. 36, 38, 591 A.2d 467, 468 (1991). That purpose is achieved when sanctions are imposed that are commensurate with the nature and gravity of the violations and the intent with which they were committed. Awuah, 346 Md. at 435, 697 A.2d at 454; Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Glenn, 341 Md. 448, 483, 671 A.2d 463, 480 (1996); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Myers, 333 Md. 440, 447, 635 A.2d 1315, 1318 (1994). This is so, because such sanctions promote general and specific deterrence, Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Sliffman, 330 Md. 515, 529, 625 A.2d 314, 321 (1993); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Berger, 326 Md. 129, 131, 604 A.2d 58 (1992) ( citing Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Owrutsky, 322 Md. 334, 355, 587 A.2d 511, 521 (1991)), protect the integrity of the legal profession, Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Cassidy, 362 Md. 689, 698, 766 A.2d 632, 637 (2001), further the public's confidence in the legal profession, Stein, 373 Md. at 533, 819 A.2d at 375 (2003); Powell, 369 Md. at 474, 800 A.2d at 789, and take account of the facts and circumstances of each particular case, including any mitigating factors. See Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Atkinson, 357 Md. 646, 656, 745 A.2d 1086, 1092 (2000); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Gavin, 350 Md. 176, 197-98, 711 A.2d 193, 204 (1998). As to what our cases require, the petitioner argues: This Court recently stated that `[i]ndefinite suspension from the practice of law is the proper sanction where the attorney violates MRPC 1.3, 1.4, 8.1(b) and 8.4(d) by failing to communicate with the client and failing to cooperate with Bar Counsel and where the attorney's conduct is not so egregious that only disbarment can adequately protect the public. Attorney Grievance Commission v. Lee (Lee IV), 393 Md. 546, 903 A.2d 895 (2006), slip op. at 17-18 citing Attorney Grievance Commission v. Kovacic, 389 Md. 233, 884 A.2d 673 (2005). In the instant case, the Respondent not only committed each of the MRPC violations recited in Lee IV, but also additional acts of misconduct involving disobedience of multiple court orders and failure to protect a client's interests upon termination of representation. The hearing judge did not find the Respondent's mitigation evidence to be persuasive. As in Attorney Grievance Commission v. Wallace, 368 Md. 277, 293, 793 A.2d 535, 545 (2002), the Respondent's pattern of conduct is such that only the most severe sanction of disbarment will provide the protection to the public that this procedure is supposed to provide. See Also Attorney Grievance Commission v. Logan, 390 Md. 313, 888 A.2d 359 (2005); Attorney Grievance Commission v. Tinsky, 377 Md. 646, 835 A.2d 542 (2003); Attorney Grievance Commission v. Faber, 373 Md. 173, 817 A.2d 205 (2003) disbarment deemed appropriate in each case based upon serious neglect of client affairs and related misconduct. Under the circumstances, the Respondent should be disbarred from the practice of law in this State. We agree. We would reiterate and re-emphasize the respondent's federal disbarment and the circumstances that gave rise to it as an aggravating factor of significant importance. The appropriate sanction in this case is disbarment. IT IS SO ORDERED; RESPONDENT SHALL PAY ALL COSTS AS TAXED BY THE CLERK OF THIS COURT, INCLUDING COSTS OF ALL TRANSCRIPTS, PURSUANT TO MARYLAND RULE 16-761, FOR WHICH SUM JUDGMENT IS ENTERED IN FAVOR OF THE ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION AGAINST SEAN WILSON BAKER.