Opinion ID: 1265462
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: acceptance of the resignation

Text: Rule 8.2, Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings, 5 O.S. 1991, Ch. 1, App. 1-A, states that the Supreme Court may enter an order approving the resignation pending disciplinary proceedings. [1] Governing a resignation is Rule 8.1 which states as follows: 8.1 Prerequisites for resignation A lawyer who is the subject of an investigation into, or a pending proceeding involving, allegations of misconduct may resign membership in the Oklahoma Bar Association, and thereby relinquish the right to practice law, only by delivering to the Commission an affidavit stating that the lawyer desires to resign and that: (a) The resignation is freely and voluntarily rendered, the lawyer is not being subjected to coercion or duress, and the lawyer is fully aware of the consequences of submitting the resignation; (b) The lawyer is aware that there is presently pending an investigation into, or proceedings involving, allegation that there exist grounds for discipline, specifying particularly the misconduct alleged; (c) The lawyer agrees that he may be reinstated only upon full compliance with the conditions and procedures prescribed by these Rules, and no application for reinstatement may be filed prior to the lapse of five years from the effective date of the resignation. We have before refused to accept resignations that do not meet all the requirements set forth in this Rule. See State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Perkins. 757 P.2d 825, 828 (Okla. 1988) (refused a resignation with a future effective date). In State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass'n v. Gasaway, 863 P.2d 1189 (Okla. 1993), we refused the attorney's resignation because it failed to specify with particularity the nature of the pending grievances, investigations and other pending proceedings as required by Rule 8.1. The rule serves a worthy purpose. It creates a formal record which includes all investigations and pending disciplinary matters. It brings before the public and this Court previously confidential matters. Id. at 1195. As the Bar Association points out, Kessler failed to strictly meet the requirements set out in Rule 8.2. His affidavit of resignation lists his prior suspensions, and states that he is aware that a two-count complaint, OBAD # 1111, is currently pending. However, he makes no mention of the second pending complaint, OBAD # 1121. In the Bar's Objection to the Resignation of Paul J. Kessler, the Bar notes that the Affidavit of Resignation was mailed to Kessler on June 11, 1993, but was not returned until September 13, 1993. In the interim on July 23, 1993, the Bar filed the additional complaint, OBAD # 1121. This complaint shows that it was mailed to Kessler at his roster address. Even though the omission of the second complaint from the affidavit may be a result of the timing and the difficulty in serving Kessler, he was mailed a copy of the second complaint and had opportunity to realize the omission and correct his affidavit. He has not done so, nor did he file a brief with this Court explaining his error. Under Rule 8.1, it is the attorney's duty to insure that his or her affidavit meets the requirements. Kessler has not done so, has not attempted to explain his omission, and has thus failed to comply with Rule 8.1. Assuming for the sake of argument that we overlook the error in Kessler's affidavit, we must still determine whether his resignation should be accepted. The Bar Association urges that we exercise our discretionary power to refuse the resignation. Rule 8.2 was recently amended to replace the word shall with regard to the Supreme Court's duty to accept resignations. The Rule now states that this Court may accept a resignation. In Gasaway we recognized that the acceptance of a resignation by us is no longer mandatory, but is within our discretionary authority. Id. at 1194. The Bar Association asks that we refuse Kessler's resignation. They point to his basic uncooperative behavior, which has necessitated a great deal of extra effort, money and time on the part of the General Counsel to bring these proceedings to this stage. The Bar notes that his misconduct negatively affected both his clients and the bank where he kept his client trust account. The Association points out that Kessler failed to file a written response as required by Rule 5.2, failed to return the affidavit of resignation in a timely manner, failed to appear at the hearing although he was given numerous opportunities to appear and admittedly had notice, attempted to evade service, and was uncooperative at every opportunity. Under these circumstances we agree that Kessler's resignation should not be accepted by this Court. Not only does his affidavit fail to meet the requirements of Rule 8.1, Kessler has, by reason of his uncooperative behavior, caused the amount of time, effort and financial resources expended by the Bar Association to be greatly increased. He has repeatedly refused to cooperate with requests made by the General Counsel, has avoided service, and failed to appear at any of the hearings.