Court Opinion

ID: 9657685
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 20:34:30.908018+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:47.619012
License: Public Domain

*925WUEST, Acting Chief Justice
(dissenting).
I will not rehash the facts and law because that has been adequately covered by the writings of other members of the court. However, in my opinion, any lawyer who fails to file state sales tax returns and federal income tax returns for more than twenty-five years is incompetent to practice law.
If he will not comply with the law, how can we expect him to counsel his clients to observe it? If he neglects his one profession, as illustrated, won’t he neglect his clients as well? Should we wait for client neglect to surface? It took more than twenty-five years to discover his failure to file state sales tax returns — a felony.
He and members of his family wept at the hearing, and I have a great deal of compassion for his family and, in a sense, for him. But, we owe a responsibility to the public. Therefore, my vote is for the public: disbarment.