Court Opinion

ID: 9513240
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-06 22:33:13.052618+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:05:47.462724
License: Public Domain

*750VANDE WALLE, Chief Justice,
concurring in the result.
[¶25] Adhering to the wording of the agreement to keep the settlement confidential “except as otherwise provided by North Dakota Law,” and recognizing the spirit and purpose of the agreement, Attorney JoAnn C. Toth might have declined to talk to reporters except to refer them to the written agreement itself and to make a copy of the agreement if requested. Article XI, § 6, N.D. Const, and section 44-04-18, NDCC, required no more. Those open-record provisions do not require the holder of the record to read to or discuss the record with reporters or the public. Discussing and answering questions about the record with a reporter is surely not prohibited by the open-record laws and might be the normal course of procedure absent an agreement to do otherwise. But, it was that discussion which permitted the reporter to quote Toth for whatever additional credibility and significance that might lend to the news story and which resulted in the complaint by Attorney Shirley Dvorak.
[¶ 26] Nevertheless, while Toth might have refused to do anymore than provide a copy of the record to the reporter, her conversation revealed no more than the agreement itself would reveal if Toth did no more than the law required, i.e., provide a copy of the agreement to the reporter.
[¶ 27] I therefore agree with the majority there is no evidence Toth is subject to disciplinary action for misrepresentation or for failing to honor the agreement. Not every case in which an attorney could have exercised better judgment results in disciplinary action.
[¶ 28] VANDE WALLE, C.J.