Court Opinion

ID: 9885469
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 13:02:53.972908+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:54.052045
License: Public Domain

MURPHY, J., dissenting in which BELL, C.J., joins.
If I were persuaded that the Respondent had engaged in a “pattern of misconduct” within the meaning of ABA Standard 9.22(c), I would not dissent from the decision to disbar. I am persuaded, however, that this Court should overrule Bar Counsel’s exception to the hearing judge’s “failure” to find that the Respondent engaged in a “pattern of misconduct,” as that term has been interpreted by the Supreme Court of Oregon in In re Redden, 842 Or. 393, 153 P.3d 113, 114-15 (2007), and by the Supreme Court of Arizona in In re Levine, *412174 Ariz. 146, 847 P.2d 1093, 1118-19 (1993). Because a series of acts undertaken to accomplish a particular result in a single case does not constitute a pattern of misconduct, I dissent from the majority’s decision to sustain Bar Counsel’s “pattern of misconduct” exception.
Although the Respondent “engaged in a series of acts over a number of days,” those acts were engaged in for the sole purpose of carrying out Ms. West’s intent. The record shows that the Respondent (1) had never before engaged in the same or similar wrongdoing, and (2) has never engaged in any misconduct when representing other clients. Under these unique circumstances, the public is protected by the imposition of an indefinite suspension, with the right to petition for readmission no sooner than two years after the date on which the suspension takes effect. I therefore dissent from the decision to disbar the Respondent.
Chief Judge BELL has authorized me to state that he joins this dissenting opinion.