Opinion ID: 1294130
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: stud fee suit

Text: On October 13, 1983, Ida J.S. filed a paternity suit against Ricky D.M. in the Circuit Court of Clay County. Ricky retained the respondent as his attorney and, after a brief consultation, an answer was prepared and filed. That answer asserted various affirmative defenses: (1) Ricky was physically absent from the geographic area at conception; (2) Ricky was actually and statistically sterile; (3) coitus occurred outside of the vagina; (4) Ida had engaged in sexual intercourse with other unnamed persons; and (5) the child had racial and hereditary characteristics dissimilar to Ricky's. On August 17, 1984, at the recommendation of the respondent, Ricky brought a civil suit against Ida. The complaint averred that in or about December, 1982, Ida desired to bear a child, but was unable to obtain a suitable mate. Thereafter, Ida met Ricky, who was described as a man of virile masculinity. The parties did explicitly or implicitly enter into a contract by which Ricky was to impregnate Ida. Should the birth of a normal child be accomplished, Ricky was to receive a stud fee of an unspecified amount, in legal tender or an acceptable medium of exchange. The complaint sought $5,000 in compensatory damages, which was represented to be the price a female infant would bring through the services of an adoption agency. It also sought damages for intentional infliction of mental distress and visitation rights. Ida denied the material averments of the stud fee complaint in her answer, and moved to strike portions of the complaint as violative of Rule 11, W.Va.R.C.P., and as scandalous matter under Rule 12(f), W.Va. R.C.P. The respondent followed with a motion to strike the answer. Though it appears a hearing on the various motions was held, there is no record of a ruling by the court. On December 10, 1984, four months after the complaint was filed, Ricky signed an acknowledgement of his duty to support Ida's infant child. The stud fee suit was dismissed with prejudice shortly thereafter pursuant to Rule 41(a), W.Va.R. C.P. Count I of the Notice of Hearing and Statement of Charges, which was based upon the stud fee suit, cited violations of ten disciplinary rules. [17] The Hearing Panel dismissed the charge.
We discuss at the threshold our authority to review the stud fee charge. Under our disciplinary procedures, the Investigative Panel of the Committee on Legal Ethics must undertake to investigate all complaints of attorney misconduct. If the Investigative Panel determines there is probable cause to support the disciplinary charge, it is referred to a Hearing Panel. State Bar By-Laws art. VI, § 12. A proceeding is instituted in this Court only if the Hearing Panel determines that the case merits a public reprimand or the suspension or annulment of the license of the accused [attorney]. Its records and findings become the Committee's report. State Bar By-Laws art. VI, §§ 17 & 18. We have not had occasion to address the breadth of our authority to review disciplinary charges which have been dismissed by the Hearing Panel. Our cases have consistently recognized the inherent power of this Court to supervise the practice of law in West Virginia. E.g., West Virginia State Bar v. Earley, supra ; State ex rel. Partain v. Oakley, 159 W.Va. 805, 227 S.E.2d 314 (1976); see also W.Va.Code, 51-1-4a (statutory recognition of inherent supervisory power). With the adoption of the Judicial Reorganization Amendment of 1974, that supervisory power attained constitutional status. Lane v. W.Va. Bd. of Law Examiners, supra; State ex rel. Askin v. Dostert, ___ W.Va. ___, 295 S.E.2d 271 (1982). As we stated in Syllabus Point 1 of Askin: The exclusive authority to define, regulate and control the practice of law in West Virginia is vested in the Supreme Court of Appeals. To more effectively process charges of attorney misconduct, this Court authorized the creation of the Committee on Legal Ethics and equipped it with investigative and prosecutorial powers. The Committee, however, remains an administrative agency of the Court and is subject to our direct supervision. State Bar By-Laws art. VI, § 4. [18] It is not an adjudicatory body, and its recommendations for discipline in ethics cases are merely advisory. Its rules of procedure are subject to our approval. For this reason, we have recognized that the adoption by this Court of rules to be applied in attorney disciplinary cases does not operate to diminish or displace our inherent supervisory power, as we discussed in In Re Brown, 164 W.Va. 234, 239, 262 S.E.2d 444, 447 (1980): Even though the Bar By-laws are subject to the approval of this Court under W.Va.Code, 51-1-4a, this does not mean that upon their approval they become the sole standard to define and control the practice of law and regulate the conduct of attorneys. If this Court were to hold that the Bar By-laws were the only source of power regulating the practice of law, it would abdicate its inherent responsibilities and the express mandate of W.Va.Code, 51-1-4a. We have, in the past, exercised our inherent power to supplement rules and procedures in attorney disciplinary cases. E.g., In Re L.E.C., ___ W.Va. ___, 301 S.E.2d 627 (1983) (authorized court review of private reprimand where rules were silent); West Virginia State Bar v. Earley, supra (court empowered to enjoin unauthorized practice of law); In Re Brown, supra (supplemented rules to require hearing on suitability of applicant for readmission). Other courts with disciplinary procedures similar to our own have also held that the adoption of those procedures does not divest the court of its inherent power to supervise and regulate the bar. E.g., Colo. R.C.P., 241.15(c) (court retains plenary power to review any determination in disciplinary cases); In Re Crane, 96 Ill.2d 40, 70 Ill.Dec. 220, 449 N.E.2d 94 (1983); Committee on Professional Ethics v. Crary, 245 N.W.2d 298 (Iowa 1976); In Re Belser, 269 S.C. 682, 239 S.E.2d 492 (1977) (appropriate disciplinary action rests upon supreme court alone). We, therefore, conclude that this Court may in appropriate circumstances exercise its inherent supervisory power to review attorney disciplinary charges for which the Committee has not recommended discipline.
As was pointed out above, the Committee relies upon a number of disciplinary rules in support of the stud fee charge. We believe, however, that the issues presented are subsumed by DR 7-102(A)(1) and 7-102(A)(2), which provide, in part: In his representation of a client, a lawyer shall not: (1) File a suit ... on behalf of his client when he knows or when it is obvious that such action would serve merely to harass or maliciously injure another. (2) Knowingly advance a claim or defense that is unwarranted under existing law, except that he may advance such claim or defense if it can be supported by good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law. These two rules cannot be read in a vacuum, but rather must be considered in light of other related measures to curb lawyer abuses. There is, for example, a direct historical link with Rule 11, F.R.C.P. Under our counterpart to Rule 11, a lawyer who signs a pleading or other paper thereby certifies that it (1) is well grounded in fact and law, (2) is not interposed for any improper purpose, and (3) is not a wilful violation which can subject the attorney to an appropriate disciplinary action. [19] Also of assistance are cases which impose liability upon lawyers for malicious prosecution where a suit lacks probable cause and is brought for an improper purpose. [20] We must, therefore, give appropriate weight to these sources in our interpretation of the disciplinary rules. Having reviewed the relevant background of the rules, we proceed to an analysis of DR 7-102(A)(1) and 7-102(A)(2). While the two rules are addressed to similar evils, they serve distinct purposes. DR 7-102(A)(1) is aimed principally at vexatious conduct by lawyers. On the other hand, DR 7-102(A)(2) prohibits the assertion of frivolous claims and defenses, regardless of the lawyer's purpose. To summarize, the former rule prohibits vexatiousness, while the latter prohibits frivolousness. Under DR 7-102(A)(1), the sole point of inquiry is the lawyer's scienter: One is subject to discipline thereunder only when he knows or when it is obvious that the purpose of his conduct is to harass or injure another. DR 7-102(A)(2) is, as stated above, aimed at frivolousness. We highlight here the twofold focus of the inquiry required under this rule. First, it must be determined whether the claim or defense is, as the rule phrases it, unwarranted under the law. [21] This is an objective inquiry and is to be measured by what a reasonable attorney should have known under the circumstances. [22] E.g., Nemeroff v. Abelson, 620 F.2d 339 (2d Cir.1980); Kinee v. Abraham Lincoln Fed. Savings & Loan Ass'n, 365 F.Supp. 975 (E.D.Pa.1973); Sommer v. Carr, 99 Wis.2d 789, 299 N.W.2d 856 (1981). Second, the rule requires a knowing violation, that is, a lawyer must assert the claim or defense with knowledge that it was unwarranted. This is a subjective inquiry, and may be proved directly or circumstantially. Nemeroff v. Abelson, supra ; Boyce v. Alizaduh, 595 F.2d 948 (4th Cir.1979); Friedman v. Dozorc, 412 Mich. 1, 312 N.W.2d 585 (1981); Sommer v. Carr, supra . We have recognized the interrelationship between Rule 11 and DR 7-102(A)(1) and (2) in Daily Gazette Co., Inc. v. Canady, ___ W.Va. ___, 332 S.E.2d 262 (1985). It is also clear that filing frivolous and harassing litigation can lead to disciplinary sanctions including disbarment under DR 7-102(A)(1) and (2). E.g., In Re Sarelas, 360 F.Supp. 794, 795 (N.D.Ill.1973), aff'd, 497 F.2d 926 (7th Cir.1974); Ellis v. Roshei Corp., 143 Cal.App.3d 642, 192 Cal.Rptr. 57 (1983); In Re Jafree, supra ; In Re Cairo, 115 Wis. 5, 338 N.W.2d 703 (1983). We believe the Hearing Panel misperceived the nature of attorney responsibility under DR 7-102(A)(1) and 7-102(A)(2). The record reveals an utter lack of a basis in fact for the suit and is strongly suggestive of an improper motivation. These issues, however, are more appropriately explored in the first instance by the Hearing Panel as the finder of fact which may, if necessary, supplement the record on remand. We, therefore, remand both Count I and Count III to the Hearing Panel for reconsideration in light of the principles hereinabove discussed. Remanded. MCGRAW, J., did not participate in the decision of this case.