Opinion ID: 2266107
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Alleged Bias of the Lay Member of the Hearing Committee

Text: As noted above, three of the four hearing days were devoted to the respondent's mitigation defense, and, with respect to the rehabilitation element of that defense, respondent's experience at the all-white law firm where he had been employed was relevant because it was probative on the question of whether respondent could withstand future racial tensions without relapsing into alcoholism. The committee had before it a report submitted by Dr. Patterson, who had been called as an expert witness by Bar Counsel, which reported that respondent had stated to him that he had been subjected to racial prejudice at the law firm. Respondent contradicted that assertion in his own testimony before the hearing committee, however, when he denied that any racial prejudice had been directed at him during that employment. That denial triggered a series of follow-up questions on that point from the committee's lay member. [10] See BOARD RULE 11.1 (Rule expressly permits the questioning of a witness by committee members for the purpose of clarifying matters raised at the hearing.). It is those questions that respondent claims show bias on the part of that hearing committee member. While at first blush, the questions, when read in the cold transcript, might give one pause concerning the motivation of the questioner, there is no contemporaneous indication that either respondent or his counsel considered that the inquiries by the hearing committee member evidenced a biased viewpoint. For example, none of respondent's answers suggested any such concern on his part; indeed, as discussed below, the opposite would appear to be the case. Moreover, respondent's experienced counsel, who was present throughout the inquiry, did not object or give any other indication that she found the questions to be in any way improper. In fact no claim of bias was made until respondent filed his exceptions to the hearing committee's report some six months after the testimony was given and one month after the hearing committee issued its unanimous report recommending respondent's disbarment. Moreover, the Board found, and there is nothing in the record to support a contrary conclusion, that the questions by the hearing committee member did not establish that the member was biased against respondent. Indeed, as the Board observed, a reading of the entire exchange between respondent and the hearing committee member, suggests that the latter seemed somewhat sympathetic to respondent's circumstances rather than hostile. One example provided by the Board was the lay member's comment: I am not here pushing anything in particular other than this. I want you to tell me that you have reached the point that you can deal with that. Because if you cannot deal with that, it is going to happen again[,] which was followed by a lengthy response that reveals no hint of any hostility or irritation by respondent. This was followed by further exchanges which gave no sign that the questions had sprung from a biased source or that respondent perceived that they did. In sum, as the Board found, respondent did not show that the lay member of the hearing committee was personally biased against him. Respondent also contends that the same hearing committee member, in his written concurring opinion, displayed a predisposition toward imposing the harshest possible sanction against him. [11] The board rejected this claim as unfounded; we also find that claim meritless. We think, at most, that the opinion reflects the hearing committee member's firm disagreement with the way the attorney disciplinary system currently deals with the question of attorney impairment, induced by substance abuse, that results in harm being inflicted upon clients. Expression of such an opinion, however, does not itself constitute bias because a hearing committee member may hold an opinion and express his or her views on law or policy without providing ground for reversal if the member still is capable of refining his views ... and maintaining a completely open mind. . . . See S.E.C. v. First City Fin. Corp., 281 U.S.App. D.C. 410, 417, 890 F.2d 1215, 1222 (1989) (citations omitted). In our jurisprudence, it is not uncommon for judicial officers to criticize the law in concurring and dissenting opinions or in other ways. [12] That practice is a time-honored means of keeping the law responsive to changing conditions. For example, in Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt, 504 U.S. 334, 349, 112 S.Ct. 2009, 2017-18, 119 L.Ed.2d 121 (1992), Fort Gratiot Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Michigan Dep't of Natural Resources, 504 U.S. 353, 373, 112 S.Ct. 2019, 2030-31, 119 L.Ed.2d 139 (1992), and Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U.S. 617, 629, 98 S.Ct. 2531, 2538, 57 L.Ed.2d 475 (1978), over a span of fourteen years, Chief Justice Rehnquist, consistently and largely for the ... [same] reasons, dissented from the position taken by the majority of the Court. He criticized the majority's application of the Commerce Clause to out-of-state hazardous waste disposal and gave the reasons he thought the application should be different. This expression of his point of view, however, did not establish that he was biased against any party. Similarly, in this case the lay member of the hearing committee did no more than what scores of other judicial officers have done, and his concurring opinion is fully in keeping with that time-honored practice. On this record we can discern no basis for concluding that the Board erred in ruling that the committee member had set aside his personal viewswhich, given human nature, are always presentand found the relevant facts solely on the evidence presented. First City Fin. Corp., supra, 281 U.S.App. D.C. at 417, 890 F.2d at 1222.