Opinion ID: 2525369
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 16

Heading: respondent should be suspended for a period of two years and one day and should be directed to pay the costs of this proceeding

Text: ¶ 25 It is respondent's burden under the provisions of RGDP Rule 7.7(b) to provide the court with an explanation of his misconduct in the other jurisdiction from which we can confidently conclude that the other jurisdiction's disciplinary sanction may have been disproportionate to the offense committed. Respondent has provided us with a great deal of information, but much of it is too vague or too imprecise to sustain respondent's burden. The per curiam opinion by and large ignores respondent's failure to provide a comprehensible exculpatory account of his misconduct. ¶ 26 The essence of this reciprocal disciplinary proceeding's critical inquiry is whether the court will countenance disregard for the suspension order of another jurisdiction where a respondent fails to provide a credible vindication of his misconduct. Except for the mitigating circumstances of his partner's illness and his daughter's premature birth, respondent's account of the events leading to his suspension and then to his disbarment falls far short of what is necessary to avoid this court's imposition of a serious disciplinary sanction. ¶ 27 While respondent's narrative of the Reid and Deanovich appeals does provide this court with an explanation of his failure to brief those cases, it is not we but the Tenth Circuit that deserved that explanation. Not only did respondent fail to vigorously press with the Tenth Circuit his requests for withdrawal in those appeals, but he then also disobeyed an order by that court to explain his inaction in those cases. His disregard of that order demonstrates disrespect for that court and interfered with its ability to administer judicial process. While the coincidence of respondent's partner's illness and the commencement of the disciplinary case against respondent in the Tenth Circuit might explain respondent's failure to file a timely response to the show-cause order, it cannot excuse his continuous neglect of his obligation to the court for five months. Moreover, respondent has provided no explanation for his failure to reply to the Tenth Circuit upon his partner's return to work. ¶ 28 As for the events that led to his disbarment in 1997, respondent admits that he practiced law in the Tenth Circuit while under suspension. The disbarment order stands as prima facie evidence of that fact. Because respondent's testimony on certain key points is so imprecise, I find insufficient support in the record to permit a finding that respondent's decision to proceed as Bailey's attorney was in fact the result of the forces he claims motivated him, including the impression he claims to have been given by the clerk's office that reinstatement did not have to precede the resumption of practice. For the same reason, I am unable to determine whether respondent's explanation for undertaking to represent Eidson is consistent with other facts appearing in the record. Even if respondent had provided an account of the Bailey and Eidson appeals from which the intended conclusions could be drawn, he still would have failed to provide an explanation upon which to rest a lenient discipline. This is so because a lawyer may not rely upon the legal advice of a court clerk. [10] ¶ 29 When the Tenth Circuit called upon respondent to show cause for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, he did not respond, thus repeating the disregard for the Tenth Circuit's process that he had shown when he failed to obey its earlier show-cause order in 1993. A lawyer has a statutory duty to obey the lawful orders and writs of the courts. [11] The respect due the courts includes timely compliance with court orders absent a good faith belief that compliance is not legally required. [12] Neither competing professional and personal demands, nor feelings that one's chance of successfully defending oneself is remote, excuse a lawyer's disobedience to a court's order to show cause in a disciplinary matter. The practice of law is replete with obligations that must be performed, deadlines that must be met, and minimum requirements that must be observed in spite of myriad conflicting pressures and competing demands. [13] When a lawyer disregards a court's orders, he undermines the authority of the judicial system. Respondent's conduct shows a pattern of neglecting the duty to obey court orders. Such misconduct should not be dealt with lightly. ¶ 30 The measure of discipline visited upon an offending lawyer should be consistent with the discipline meted out to other lawyers for similar acts of professional misconduct. [14] Applying that standard, I believe that disbarring respondent would be too severe in light of the mitigating circumstances of which this court has been made aware, [15] while public censure is manifestly insufficient to satisfy the legitimate goals of administering discipline to errant lawyers and putting other members of the Bar on notice that we will not tolerate disregard of our own or another jurisdiction's suspension orders. [16] ¶ 31 At a minimum, vindication of the legitimate interests served by Oklahoma's bar disciplinary regime calls in this case for the imposition of a suspension of two years and one day together with the payment of the costs of this proceeding. Anything less than that would permit respondent to gain his readmission without this court's order. In light of respondent's past failure to adhere to even the minimum conditions prescribed by the rules of the Tenth Circuit for license reinstatement after suspension, respondent should now be required to meet the stricter standard that governs in this jurisdiction one's restoration of legal license that has stood suspended for at least two years and one day. [17]