Court Opinion

ID: 9552219
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 19:06:29.575082+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:25:50.509412
License: Public Domain

Maupin, J.,
concurring:
Although the majority correctly articulates the doctrine governing these matters, I am compelled to write separately.
The record indicates a dispute over the nature of comments made about Mr. O’Brien during the meeting of the Board of Governors of the State Bar at which membership on the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection was first at issue. Regardless of the substance of the discussions, the mere mention of discipline proceedings, whether meant as rhetorical or not, had the potential effect of compromising Mr. O’Brien’s chances of being selected. If, however, the allegation was in any way seriously considered, any board member could have then and there examined Mr. O’Brien’s State Bar Association file to confirm or refute the allegation. Given that the board ultimately reconsidered the *78matter with full knowledge of the true facts, that Mr. O’Brien has never been the subject of discipline proceedings, it appears that such a review was unnecessary. Thus, because selection of attorney members of the Commission is entrusted to the Board of Governors of the State Bar by the Nevada Constitution, and because the Board did have all of the true facts at hand when the matter was ultimately decided, we must defer to its final decision.
It is unfortunate that the possibility of discipline proceedings concerning Mr. O’Brien ever became an issue, or even a “non-issue,” in the board’s deliberations. Regardless of the outcome of the vote, and regardless of the number of times the board revisits the issue, the process and both of these applicants for the position were unnecessarily compromised.
In writing separately, I wish to stress again that Mr. O’Brien is one of the most respected members of our profession here in Nevada. The observations of the majority bear repeating:
[T]hat a serious ethical complaint was pending against Mr. O’Brien . . . could not have been further from the truth. [Footnote omitted.] Mr. O’Brien has been an active member of the State Bar of Nevada since 1969; no disciplinary complaint has ever been filed against him. Indeed, Mr. O’Brien served for seven years as a member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Nevada, and for one year as president of the state bar. He has also served as a U.S. Magistrate and as a member of the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline. In short, Mr. O’Brien’s record as an attorney and public servant is beyond reproach.
(Emphasis added.)