Opinion ID: 3206344
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: texas discipline

Text: ¶9 Pending discipline in Texas, O'Laughlin followed Rule 10 of the TRDP and tendered his resignation from the Texas Bar in lieu of discipline. The Supreme Court of Texas accepted O'Laughlin's resignation. According to Rule 10.05 of the TRDP, a resignation in lieu of discipline shall be treated as a disbarment for all purposes. TRDP 10.05, Texas Govt. Code T.2, subt. G, app. A-1. When an attorney resigns in lieu of disciplinary proceedings in another jurisdiction, this Court views the allegations of misconduct as prima facie evidence the attorney committed the misconduct, and the misconduct is conclusively established where it is not rebutted. RGDP 7.7, 5 O.S.2011, ch. 1, app. 1-A; see State of Okla. ex rel. OBA v. Wagnon , 2004 OK 78, ¶ 4, 104 P.3d 571, 572. O'Laughlin possessed a full and fair opportunity to litigate the Texas complaints. He voluntarily and with full knowledge of the consequences chose to resign rather than challenge the allegations against him. Thus, those allegations became conclusively established in Texas, and he does not challenge them here. O'Laughlin does challenge our jurisdiction to confer punishment on misconduct for an attorney handling tax returns and challenges the actions of the Texas Bar and the Supreme Court of Texas. We address each in turn. ¶10 We have the authority to adjudicate misconduct committed in other jurisdictions. Rule 8.5(a), Okla. Rules of Professional Conduct (ORPC), 5 O.S.2011, ch. 1, app. 3-A. We cannot ignore disciplinary proceedings in sister states. We are not required to give preclusive effect to an order of a sister-state court imposing professional discipline; the facts that are the basis for the attorney discipline are not relitigated, but review of the facts is limited to a review of the evidence presented in the other disciplinary proceeding. See State ex rel. OBA v. Heinen , 2002 OK 81, ¶ 7, 60 P.3d 1018, 1020; State ex rel. OBA v. Patterson , 2001 OK 51, ¶ 6, 28 P.3d 551, 554-55. ¶11 O'Laughlin chooses not to acknowledge any misconduct, and he shows no remorse for the wrongs done to his clients. Instead, O'Laughlin argues that his misconduct did not involve the practice of law; and therefore, this Court cannot impose discipline. O'Laughlin contends that Canaday v. United States , 354 F.2d 849, 857 (8th Cir. 1966), stands for the proposition that the preparations of tax returns by an attorney are not the practice of law. Not only is Canaday not binding on this Court, but also it does not stand for what O'Laughlin claims. The Canaday Court was analyzing the attorney-client privilege in the context of a federal Fourth Amendment issue. It held that an attorney-client relationship was not established between attorney and client, and therefore any communications to [attorney] or documents in his custody were not subject to the [attorney-client] privilege and the tax returns were admissible evidence in a criminal proceeding. Id. at 857. We do not examine the preparation of tax returns in the criminal-evidentiary context, but instead in light of the ORPC and our jurisprudence. ¶12 The ORPC encompass nonlegal work completed by attorneys that when completed by nonattorneys would not be considered the practice of law. ORPC Rule 5.5(c)(4) permits an attorney to practice on a temporary basis in a jurisdiction which he or she is not admitted to practice. Comment 13 to the Rule indicates that this work includes both legal services and services that nonlawyers may perform but that are considered the practice of law when performed by lawyers. Nonlegal work performed by lawyers can be governed by the ORPC. ¶13 As far back as 1953, the OBA has viewed filing income tax returns as practicing law. Advisory Opinion No. 166, OBA Legal Ethics Committee (Jan. 14, 1953), 1953 WL 11882. Quoting the American Bar Association, the Legal Ethics Committee stated as follows: The fact that a layman can lawfully render certain services does not necessarily mean that it would be professional service when rendered by a lawyer. On the contrary, lawyers are frequently called upon to render such service for the very reason that it can be better rendered by a lawyer. Id. at . The Committee concluded that [w]hen a lawyer, be he judge or not, accepts employment to prepare income tax returns, he is accepting employment AS A LAWYER and in the preparation of those returns and the submission of them to his client he is practicing law. Id. at . ¶14 We agree with the Legal Ethics Committee. O'Laughlin accepted employment to file years of tax returns for clients. He represented himself as an attorney to the public. The complainants referenced O'Laughlin as being a tax attorney. Despite his arguments to the contrary, O'Laughlin was performing work as an attorney. ¶15 O'Laughlin's arguments about the Texas Bar and Supreme Court of Texas during his disciplinary proceeding are concerning. O'Laughlin claims that the Texas disciplinary proceeding is still ongoing. He supports his assertion by citing the Withdrawal of Motion filed on May 22, 2015. That date is almost one month after the Supreme Court of Texas entered a final order accepting O'Laughlin's resignation in lieu of discipline, April 28, 2015. According to Texas rules, an attorney has ten days to withdraw a motion for resignation in lieu of discipline after the attorney has been served the Texas Bar's response. TRDP 10.02, Texas Govt. Code T.2, subt. G, app. A-1. The Texas Bar filed its response on March 31st, and O'Laughlin was served on the same date. Almost two months later, O'Laughlin took action, well past the allotted time to withdraw his motion. According to TRDP Rule 10.02, [i]f a motion to withdraw is not timely filed, the detailed statement of Professional Misconduct shall be deemed to have been conclusively established for all purposes. Id. O'Laughlin failed to withdraw his resignation within the ten allotted days, and he fails to explain or provide any relevant rule that allows him to circumvent TRDP Rule 10.02. We find no merit in O'Laughlin's continuing objection via his Withdrawal of Motion due to TRDP Rule 10.02 and the Supreme Court of Texas taking no action on the Withdrawal of Motion for over a year and a half and counting. O'Laughlin acknowledged the Texas rules he resigned under when he submitted his request to resign. We hold him accountable for his knowledge of those rules and his neglect. ¶16 Even if O'Laughlin's attempt to withdraw his request to resign from the Texas Bar were a valid procedural vehicle, O'Laughlin did not provide any evidence that he actually filed it with the Supreme Court of Texas. A file-stamped Withdrawal of Motion is absent from the record. When directed by this Court to submit a file-stamped copy of the Withdrawal of Motion or explain his failure to do so, O'Laughlin failed to provide any evidence or argument. 6 ¶17 We view these actions by O'Laughlin as a method to flaunt the legal system and avoid discipline. In his January 25th response, O'Laughlin claims that the Texas Bar's attorney never represented to him that there were findings that would be conclusively established when he resigned in lieu of discipline. Texas' disciplinary rules contradict his claim. He argues now that this proceeding was obtained by fraud. Again, we find no merit to O'Laughlin's argument. For purposes of Rule 7.7 of the RGDP, O'Laughlin's resignation in lieu of discipline is valid, and the Supreme Court of Texas' order accepting his resignation is final. ¶18 O'Laughlin does not challenge the evidence or underlying facts in this Court, despite being allowed an opportunity to explain the circumstances or present mitigating evidence. If true as O'Laughlin admitted, the facts of the three grievances filed by O'Laughlin's clients alone are sufficient to warrant discipline. Having failed to challenge the factual allegations, this Court upholds the conclusive establishment of the misconduct underlying O'Laughlin's resignation in lieu of discipline in Texas. Discipline in Oklahoma is warranted.