Opinion ID: 2357961
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Respondent's Motion To Dismiss Based upon the Superior Court's Approval of the Auditor-Master's Report

Text: By order dated March 11, 1981, the Superior Court ratified the Auditor-Master's report dated February 12, 1981. (Bar Ex. 12) The Auditor-Master's report contained a recommendation that the court consider the advisability of referring the matter to the Office of Bar Counsel for appropriate action. (Bar Ex. 11, p. 6) In ratifying the Auditor-Master's report, the court did not refer the matter to Bar Counsel and made no reference to the Auditor-Master's recommendation of referral. Respondent contended in a written Motion To Dismiss Petition Instituting Formal Disciplinary Proceedings filed prior to the hearing and orally at the hearing (Tr. 16-18) that the Superior Court considered but did not accept the Auditor-Master's recommendation of referral. Respondent further contended that as the Superior Court has general equity powers in matters pertaining to trustees it appoints, the Superior Court's non-referral of the matter was final and conclusive, and, therefore, the Committee was precluded from determining whether respondent had violated any disciplinary rules. The Committee deferred decision on respondent's motion and requested that the parties brief the issues raised thereby in their post-hearing submissions. (Tr. 19-20) Bar Counsel now contends that the court's ratification of the Auditor-Master's report actually constitutes a determination that respondent breached his duties as trustee. (Bar Counsel's Post-Hearing Brief, p. 5) In our view, neither we nor the Board on Professional Responsibility is precluded from reviewing respondent's conduct because the court did not specifically refer the matter to the Office of Bar Counsel. The court, in ratifying the Auditor-Master's report, did not purport to make a determination whether respondent breached his fiduciary duty as trustee. The court's order is silent with regard to whether respondent's conduct warranted a referral to the Office of Bar Counsel, and no inference properly can or should be drawn from that silence. Thus, the court's action in this regard does not preclude this Committee from determining whether respondent's conduct was in violation of the Code of Professional Responsibility. Nor does the court's action constitute a determination that respondent breached his duties as trustee.