Court Opinion

ID: 9785895
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 22:45:45.718218+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:36:35.650058
License: Public Domain

WINCHESTER, V.C.J.,
Dissenting:
¶ 1 There is no question that the actions of the applicant, Douglas Jerome Fraley, were a breach of professional ethics and warranted the severest form of discipline. But, the applicant is entirely correct when he answers *855this Court that there were no pending disciplinary proceedings, nor an investigation at the time of his resignation. The rules cited by the majority require pending disciplinary proceedings or an investigation. Rule 8.1 of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings, 5 O.S.2001, ch. 1, app. 1-A, begins: “A lawyer who is the subject of an investigation into, or a pending proceeding involving, allegations of misconduct....” If a lawyer is the subject of an investigation by the Bar Association or has a disciplinary proceeding pending, he may resign by following subsections (a) through (c).
¶ 2 Failure to follow Rule 8.1 may result in the Court’s refusal to accept the resignation. State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass’n v. Kessler, 1995 OK 32, ¶ 16, 895 P.2d 713, 717. See also State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass’n v. Gasaway, 1993 OK 133, 863 P.2d 1189, and State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass’n v. Perkins, 1988 OK 65, 757 P.2d 825. In Kessler, Gasaway, and Perkins, disciplinary proceedings were pending. The majority opinion does not cite any authority that requires a lawyer to report himself for a violation of a rule, nor follow Rule 8.1 when he is not even under investigation by the Bar Association. Rule 8.3(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct, 5 O.S.2001, ch. 1, app. 3-A, provides that a lawyer having knowledge that another lawyer has violated the rules in a manner that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority. While the rales require lawyers to be candid with investigators from the Bar Association, Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings, 5 O.S. 2001, eh. 1, app. 1-A, Rule 5.2, the rules do not require them to report their own violations. Therefore, the applicant is not subject to the requirements of Rule 8.1.
¶ 3 This Court has repeatedly held that the purpose of attorney discipline proceedings is not to punish the attorney, but to protect the public and courts. State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass’n v. Samara, 1984 OK 32, ¶, 683 P.2d 979, 983; State ex rel. Oklahoma Bar Ass’n v. Peveto, 1980 OK 182, ¶ 20, 620 P.2d 392, 395. The applicant resigned from the bar, did not reapply until after five years, and candidly disclosed the circumstances leading up to his resignation before the Professional Responsibility Tribunal. That tribunal recommended reinstatement.
114 The applicant acted in a self-correcting manner by taking the actions he did. He could have agreed to reimburse the clients and the firm and then left quietly. His decision not to reapply for reinstatement pri- or to the lapse of five years from the effective date of resignation is the same result as that required by Rule 8.1 of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings. The only difference between the actions taken by the applicant and a resignation pending an investigation is a published order revealing the accusations against him. If this Court believes that the applicant’s action in taking his firm’s and clients’ funds require that he not be reinstated, then that should be the issue before the Court, not the form of the resignation.
¶ 5 After considering the facts before the Court concerning applicant’s breach of professional ethics, his reimbursing his firm and clients for the funds he had taken, and the mitigating facts regarding overcoming his addictive behavior, I would reinstate the applicant.
¶ 6 Moreover, I conclude from the record that the Bar Association handled the resignation and readmission appropriately under these circumstances. The actions taken by the Bar Association regarding the resignation are irrelevant to whether or not the applicant should be reinstated.