Court Opinion

ID: 9733552
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 17:10:23.618757+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:42.325615
License: Public Domain

AMUNDSON, Justice
(dissenting).
I dissent.
The facts and the law in this case are not in dispute. Respondent has admitted that he converted his client’s funds for maintaining the life style he and his wife had become accustomed to during their marriage. It is also evident this act was committed by respondent during a time in his life when his marriage was proceeding through troubled waters.
There is no question an act of this nature is a serious matter which warrants sanction. Where I part company with the majority is on what constitutes an appropriate discipline under the facts of this particular case. The Nebraska Supreme Court dealt with an attorney's misuse of a client’s funds in the case of State ex rel. Nebraska State Bar Association v. Miller, 225 Neb. 261, 265-66, 404 N.W.2d 40, 43 (1987), and held as follows:
While we have previously held that conversion of a client’s funds requires disbarment, we have also held that ‘disbarment is inappropriate in the absence of specifically delineated injuries’ to a client as the result of an attorney’s misconduct. In addition, we have held that mitigating circumstances shown in the record should be considered in determining an appropriate discipline.
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While an attorney’s restitution of a client’s converted funds prior to being faced with accountability may not exonerate such misconduct, restitution prior to complaint or prospective accountability is a significant mitigating factor to be considered in determining an appropriate sanction for an attorney’s conversion of a client’s funds. Such view of restitution will encourage an attorney to correct a wrong before damage is sustained by a client.
(Citations omitted; emphasis in original). The court concluded since this was a single, isolated incident and the attorney had cooperated with the counsel for discipline, a two-year suspension with conditions for reinstatement was an appropriate sanction.
Respondent in this case has made restitution and has cooperated with the Disciplinary Board (this court was not required to appoint a referee in view of this cooperation). This was an isolated incident on his part. He has no prior record with the Board, he had a good reputation with the local bar, and is sincerely remorseful for this incident. Comm. on Professional Ethics & Conduct v. Rauch, 417 N.W.2d 459 (Iowa 1988); State ex rel. Neb. State Bar Ass’n v. Fitzgerald, 227 Neb. 90, 416 N.W.2d 28 (1987). In fact, respondent’s client herself filed an affidavit with this court stating “I would not like to see [Respondent] disbarred and hope he can continue to practice law.” This is the first time that I can recollect such a request from a victim in my years as a practicing attorney and past member and chairman of the Disciplinary Board. The usual request from victims is that the attorney receive the maximum discipline allowable under the law if not also being required to relinquish their blood, sweat, and hide. Finally, there has been no “specifically delineated injury” shown to have been sustained by the client in this case.
This is not a case where respondent had a plethora of past and present complaints with the Board, had an obstructionist attitude toward the authority of the Board, treated any communication from the Board as an “unsolicited invitation to join a book club,” or had a twenty-three-year history of failing to file, report, or pay federal income tax, as shown by the facts in our prior decisions of Matter of Discipline of Simpson, 467 N.W.2d 921 (S.D.1991); Matter of Discipline of Stanton, 446 N.W.2d *91933 (S.D.1989), and In re Rude, 88 S.D. 416, 221 N.W.2d 43 (1974).
There is no question that the public is entitled to protection from unethical attorneys but this can be accomplished without the imposition of disbarment. Also, when considering the likelihood of respondent becoming a repeat offender, I must conclude on this record that it is improbable. Matter of Discipline of Kirby, 336 N.W.2d 378 (S.D.1983).
In this case, respondent had a difficult time accepting the inevitable breakup of his marriage which caused him to suffer emotionally and financially. I agree with the statement in the dissent in Stanton: “Mindful that we are all susceptible to great mental anxiety in this profession, and coupled with Stanton’s personal problems, I would attempt to temper justice with mercy, believing that his professional life is redeemable.” 446 N.W.2d at 43 (Henderson, J., dissenting). Respondent was obviously incapable of coping with the breakup of his marriage and the bad cash flow in his new partnership endeavor, and converted these funds in an attempt to salvage his marriage by maintaining his wife in a manner which she had become accustomed to and demanded. Notwithstanding these frailties of respondent, I am convinced that his career as an attorney can be salvaged if a lesser sanction would be imposed in this particular case.
Therefore, I would suspend respondent from the practice of law for three years retroactive to the date when he voluntarily discontinued his active practice. I would further require that respondent successfully complete the ethics portion of the state bar examination prior to his being reinstated.