Opinion ID: 836006
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Vu Matter

Text: The Parrishes prevailed at trial in their boundary dispute with Conner in Parrish et al. v. Conner. Thereafter, Conner retained Fowlks and Snyder to represent him in his plan to move a fence between Conner's property and property owned by his other neighbors, Vu and Nguyen. Like the Parrishes, Vu and Nguyen believed that they owned the disputed property by adverse possession. Conner went onto the disputed property on November 3, 1999, and began to cut down a tree that was in the way of where Conner planned to move the fence. According to Vu, when Boxberger, the tenant living on the Vu-Nguyen property, asked Conner to stop cutting the tree, Conner struck her and told her that he had a gun that he would use if Boxberger or anyone else tried to stop him. On November 4, 1999, Fowlks wrote a letter to Nguyen telling him that Conner intended to move the fence and that his attempt to do so had been met with hostility by Boxberger. On November 8, 1999, Fowlks wrote another letter to Nguyen, stating that Boxberger had threatened Conner with a firearm and that any further threats will be met with police intervention. On November 11, 1999, Vu and Nguyen retained the accused to represent them, having learned from Laurel Parrish that the accused had represented the Parrishes in their dispute with Conner. Vu told the accused that Conner had called her several times about the disputed property. On November 15, 1999, the accused filed a complaint on behalf of Vu and Nguyen to quiet title to the disputed property. The next day13 days after the alleged altercation between Conner and Boxbergerand without notice to Conner or Conner's lawyer, the accused filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and restraining order against Conner. He did not consult the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure before filing the motion. Rather, he relied on his practice in seeking restraining orders in domestic relations matters. The accused appeared ex parte at the hearing on the motion (November hearing), [7] at which he submitted an affidavit from Vu that stated, in part, that the altercation between Conner and Boxberger had occurred on Wednesday, November 3, 1999, and that, since that time, Conner had been making threatening phone calls to Vu and Nguyen. The accused told the judge: There was some action over the weekend where the Defendant [Conner] came over with a gun, pushed the tenant and caused injury and has continued to cut trees and bushes and tear down fences that have been in existence for forty years   . He is an elderly man and the police have been alerted and the Plaintiffs are in fear that he might follow through against their tenant or themselves. (Emphasis added.) The following colloquy ensued: [Accused]: And I would ask that the amount of bail to be set just in case there is [Judge]: The bond. All right. Have you contacted the Defendants to let them know, or their attorney? [Accused]: There is no defense yet, Your Honor. [Judge]: No, but [Accused]: Yeah. [Judge]: Have you told them you were going to make application for the order? [Accused]: I haven't discussed it with with the old gentleman yet at all. It just came up and it is very serious.  (Emphasis added.) The judge signed the injunction and temporary restraining order preventing Conner from entering the disputed property and from contacting, harassing, harming, or otherwise interfering with Vu, Nguyen, or Boxberger. The order also provided: It is further ordered that a security amount for a violation of any portion of this order be set in the amount of $1,000. The judge asked the accused if the accused was going to set a hearing, to which the accused responded: I'll set a hearing now that the order is signed; I needed something immediately, Your Honor. When Conner was served with the order, he informed Fowlks, who wrote to the accused on November 17, 1999. Fowlks told the accused that the accused's failure to provide notice to Conner or Fowlks before appearing ex parte the day before was extraordinarily offensive as well as unethical and inappropriate, and that Fowlks immediately would file a motion to set aside the order. Fowlks did so and, on January 14, 2000, another judge held a hearing on the motion to set aside. At that hearing, Fowlks called the accused as a witness, which took the accused by surprise. The accused had been in an automobile accident approximately a month before the hearing and felt somewhat confused. While the accused was under oath, Fowlks asked him a series of questions about what the accused had said at the November hearing. One of those questions was whether the judge who had presided at the November hearing had asked the accused if the accused had contacted Connor or Conner's lawyer before appearing ex parte at the hearing. The accused responded, No. After the accused had testified about what he had said at the November hearing, the judge permitted Fowlks to play an audiotape of the November hearing. That tape made clear that the judge had asked the accused whether he had contacted Conner or Conner's lawyer. The judge at the January hearing then asked the accused whether there was anything he wanted to say while he still was under oath. The accused did not explain the disparity between his previous testimony and the audiotape of the November hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge set aside the restraining order and temporary injunction against Conner. [8] In its fourth cause of complaint, the Bar alleged that the accused violated DR 1-102(A)(3) and DR 1-102(A)(4) by making misrepresentations to the court at both the November and January hearings, and that the accused violated DR 7-110(B)(2) and (3) by appearing ex parte at the November hearing without providing notice to Conner or to opposing counsel. The trial panel found that the accused's statement at the November hearing that [t]here is no defense yet was a misrepresentation and that his denial at the January hearing that he had made that statement in November also was a misrepresentation. The trial panel concluded that the misrepresentations violated DR 1-102(A)(3) and that they were prejudicial to the administration of justice, in violation of DR 1-102(A)(4). The trial panel also concluded that the accused's ex parte appearance at the November hearing without giving prior notice to the other side violated DR 7-110(B)(2) and (3). We begin with the alleged violations of DR 1-102(A)(3) and (4), the texts of which appear earlier in this opinion. The Bar contends that the accused misled the judge at the November hearing about whether Conner was represented by counsel and when the altercation between Conner and Boxberger had occurred. The Bar also contends that the accused made misrepresentations under oath during the January hearing regarding his exchanges with the judge at the November hearing. The accused responds, first, that the Bar should not be permitted to bootstrap the alleged offenses in the Vu matter by charging him twice for essentially the same conduct. With respect to the accused's conduct at the November hearing, he contends that the evidence does not demonstrate that he committed any ethical violations. We reject the accused's contention that the Bar's charges in the Vu matter involve bootstrapping. The complaint alleges that the accused made misrepresentations to two different judges in two different proceedings. The factual predicates for the Bar's charges in the two proceedings are different, as we discuss in more detail below.
The Bar alleges that the accused made three misrepresentations to the court at the November hearing. First, the Bar contends that the accused represented to the court that the alleged incident between Conner and Boxberger had occurred the weekend before the hearing, even though the accused knew from Vu's affidavit that the incident had occurred almost two weeks before the hearing. By making the statements, quoted above, that there was some action over the weekend and that the situation had just [come] up, the accused created the impression that the incident with the gun had occurred the weekend immediately before the November hearing. In fact, the evidence demonstrates that the only altercation between Conner and Boxberger involving a gun had occurred almost two weeks before that hearing. We are convinced that the accused knew that his statement was a misrepresentation, because the accused had prepared Vu's affidavit the same day as the ex parte hearing, and the affidavit stated that the incident had occurred on November 3. Moreover, the accused knew that his misstatement was material, because the accused knew that, to obtain a restraining order, he needed to convince the judge that there was an emergency. In the context of a hearing for a temporary restraining order, such a misstatement could or would influence significantly [a judge's] decision-making process. Benett, 331 Or. at 277, 14 P.3d 66. Second, the Bar contends that the accused made a misrepresentation when he stated that [t]here is no defense yet in response to the judge's question whether the accused had told Conner or his lawyer that the accused was going to apply for an order. The accused admits that that statement displayed a lack of candor. Also, at the time that he made the statement, he believed that Conner was represented by a lawyer. Moreover, the accused knew that his misrepresentation was material, because it is apparent that, in the context of a hearing for a temporary restraining order, a statement that the opposing party is not represented could influence the judge's decision whether to issue the order. [9] In sum, we conclude that the Bar proved by clear and convincing evidence that the accused made two material misrepresentations of fact during the November hearing, in violation of DR 1-102(A)(3). The judge relied on the accused's misrepresentations, thus making them prejudicial to the administration of justice, in violation of DR 1-102(A)(4).
The Bar contends that the accused made the following material false statements under oath at the January hearing by testifying that: (1) the judge who presided over the November hearing had not asked him if he had contacted Conner or Conner's lawyer; (2) he had not told the judge at the November hearing that the confrontation between Conner and Boxberger had occurred the weekend before the November hearing; (3) the judge at the November hearing had not told the accused that the accused needed to schedule a hearing immediately; and (4) the judge at the November hearing had not ordered Vu and Nguyen to post a bond in the amount of $1,000. The accused responds that his confusion at the January hearing, and his failure to recall accurately his exchange with the judge at the November hearing falls short of a misrepresentation under DR 1-102(A)(3). As noted, the trial panel found that the accused made a misrepresentation at the January hearing when he testified that the judge at the November hearing had not asked him if he had contacted Conner or Conner's lawyer. As we have explained, the accused was under oath when he testified at the January hearing. Fowlks asked him, Did [the judge] ask you if you contacted the defendant or his attorney prior to appearing ex parte? The accused responded, No. The accused did not testify, as he now claims, that he could not remember what the judge had asked him at the November hearing or that he needed to have his recollection refreshed. Rather, he testified that the judge had not asked him if he had notified the other side. Thereafter, Fowlks played a tape recording of the November hearing. When confronted with what the judge had asked him about having contacted Conner or Conner's lawyer, the accused offered no explanation for his previous answer to Fowlks's question, such as claiming that he had been confused in answering Fowlks's question or otherwise should be excused for the misstatement. The accused knew that his false statement was material, because he knew that whether the accused had told the truth at the November hearing was relevant in determining whether the restraining order should be set aside. We conclude that the accused knowingly made a false statement under oath at the January hearing and that, in doing so, the accused violated DR 1-102(A)(3) and (4). [10] Finally, we turn to the Bar's contention that the accused violated DR 7-110(B)(2) and (3), which provide: In an adversary proceeding, a lawyer shall not communicate, or cause another to communicate, as to the merits of the cause with a judge or an official before whom the proceeding is pending except:      (2) In writing if the lawyer promptly delivers a copy of the writing to opposing counsel or to the adverse party if the adverse party is not represented by a lawyer; (3) Orally upon adequate notice to opposing counsel or to the adverse party if the adverse party is not represented by a lawyer. This court has explained that the purpose of DR 7-110(B) is to prevent the appearance or the effect of granting undue advantage to one party. In re Smith, 295 Or. 755, 759, 670 P.2d 1018 (1983). The Bar argues that the accused was not entitled to deprive Conner or his lawyer of notice that he intended to appear ex parte, and that the accused communicated with the court on the merits of a cause when he presented the affidavit and proposed order to the court without providing copies of the documents to Conner or Fowlks. The accused concedes that he made a mistake when he relied on his domestic relations experience and failed to consult the applicable rules of civil procedure regarding notice and service before applying for the injunction and restraining order. In the accused's view, his mistaken assumption that he was not required to provide notice or to deliver a copy of his motion to the other side means that he did not act with a culpable mental state and, therefore, did not violate DR 7-110(B). We disagree with the accused that, because of his mistaken reliance on his understanding of domestic relations restraining orders in a matter involving a boundary dispute and his failure to consult the correct rules of procedure regarding notice before requesting the order, he did not violate DR 7-110(B). First, the accused, like everyone else, is presumed to know the law. See In re Devers, 328 Or. 230, 241, 974 P.2d 191 (1999) (so stating). Moreover, as we have explained, the purpose of DR 7-110(B) is to prevent the appearance or the effect of granting an undue advantage to one party. Smith, 295 Or. at 759, 670 P.2d 1018. The appearance or effect of undue advantage occurs regardless of the mental state of a lawyer who fails to comply with the requirements of the rule. Although, as we explain later in this opinion, an accused's mental state is relevant in assessing the appropriate sanction for a violation of that rule, a mistaken belief that the lawyer was not required to provide notice or service is not a defense to a charge under DR 7-110(B). See Eadie, 333 Or. at 59, 36 P.3d 468 (holding misplaced reliance on statute to excuse service not defense to violation of DR 7-110(B)). In this proceeding, the accused's only defense to the Bar's charge under DR 7-110(B) is that he did not intend to violate the rule. He concedes that he should have notified Conner or Fowlks before he requested the restraining order. We agree with the trial panel that the accused violated DR 7-110(B)(2) and (3) in the Vu matter. In sum, we conclude that the Bar failed to prove by clear and convincing evidence its charges against the accused in the Mantow and Parrish matters. With respect to the Vu matter, we conclude that the Bar proved by clear and convincing evidence that the accused violated DR 1-102(A)(3), DR 1-102(A)(4), and DR 7-110(B)(2) and (3). We turn to the question of the appropriate sanction. As noted, the trial panel concluded that the accused should be suspended from the practice of law for nine months. The Bar argues for at least a nine-month suspension, while the accused believes that a public reprimand is the appropriate sanction.