Court Opinion

ID: 9783757
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 20:07:12.008715+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:35:35.120414
License: Public Domain

BROWN, J., concurring. This case is unique in that on the day of its submission, three other cases were submitted for a decision by this court in matters where David Rees had been sanctioned by the Professional Conduct Committee: Ligon v. Rees, 09-555 (the Ford case); Ligon v. Rees, 09-559 (the Papachristou case); and Ligon v. Rees, 09-560 (the Brandon case). In this particular case (the Mooney case), the court has increased the suspension of Rees from the practice of law from thirty days to one year, while crediting Rees with time for the thirty-day suspension. My determination to increase the sanction in this case is influenced in part by his disciplinary record as evidenced by these other three cases. In particular, I note a pattern of serious misconduct with respect to conflicts of interest as evidenced by the Mooney-George conflict in this case and the Papachristou-Crockett conflict in Case No. 09-559. We review sanctions imposed by the Committee and impose the appropriate sanction based on the evidence. See, e.g., Ligon v. Walker, 2009 Ark. 136, 297 S.W.3d 1. One of the thirteen factors that the Committee must consider in imposing a sanction is “[t]he lawyer’s | ?«prior disciplinary record, to include warnings.” Procedures Regulating Profl Conduct § 19.L (2009). I consider the disciplinary record of Rees to be an important factor in our review. It seems artificial to me to consider each of the four David Rees cases handed down today, all of which impose sanctions, as isolated and discrete matters. In addition, I believe that discerning whether a pattern of misconduct is exhibited by Rees’s conduct should come into play in a review of what sanction is appropriate. Patterns of misconduct are important for the Committee to decide the existence of serious misconduct. Id. § 17.B(4). So too should they be evaluated for this court to assess the appropriate sanction. In my opinion, the two conflicts of interest already referred to in this opinion in separate cases qualify as a pattern. For these reasons, I concur in the heightened sanction of one year.