Court Opinion

ID: 9855903
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:33:57.695381+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:37:16.922946
License: Public Domain

Nahmias, Justice,
concurring.
In my view, Michael J. C. Shaw is fortunate not to be incarcerated in a state or federal prison for the half-million-dollar fraud he perpetrated against his employer, along with related crimes such as identity theft and misuse of someone else’s social security number. His multi-year, multi-faceted scheme ended only when he was caught. I join the Court’s unanimous decision rejecting Shaw’s petition for voluntary discipline of a six-to-twelve month suspension, “preferably retroactive” to the date he stopped practicing law, which occurred when his law firm discovered his scheme and terminated him. I write to express how troubling I find it that Shaw and, even worse, the State Bar apparently believe that such a short “break” from practicing law is appropriate discipline for his extended, extensive, and serious misconduct, notwithstanding the factors he presents in mitigation. I expect that most members of the Bar, and almost every citizen in this State, would be equally disturbed by that concept of attorney discipline.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Justice Carley joins in this concurrence.