Court Opinion

ID: 9774078
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 18:08:16.765578+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:01.705474
License: Public Domain

Justice LaVECCHIA,
dissenting.
In this disciplinary case, we deal with an attorney who attempted to barter his legal services in exchange for sex from his vulnerable female clients. Even the bloodless, stipulated record presented in this case cannot disguise the impact of the course of conduct undertaken by respondent, David J. Witherspoon. In an astounding exhibition of bad taste, lack of professionalism, and overreaching of vulnerable clients who were at the doors of bankruptcy, respondent instilled in three female clients and the daughter of another client, a belief that a fee owed would be forgiven or abated if each would engage in some form of sexually-oriented conduct with him. Adding insult to injury, a review of respondent’s statements made under oath at the hearing in this matter reveals a man without remorse. That is, a man without any remorse except that he was caught and his conduct opened him up to the four grievances filed against him.
This matter comes before us on an order to show cause issued by this Court to review the findings and recommendation of the Disciplinary Review Board (DRB) that respondent be suspended for a period of three months. The Court now imposes a one-year suspension. Because I am unable to agree with the quantum of punishment to be imposed on respondent, whose outrageous behavior, I conclude, requires disbarment, I respectfully must dissent.
*363I.
An ethics complaint, filed against respondent under Docket Nos. XIV-06-095E and VI-07-900E, XIV-06-096E and VI-07-901E, XIV-06-482E and VI-07-902E, XIV-06-483E and VI-07-903E, charged him with engaging in sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, recordkeeping violations, and practicing law while ineligible for failure to pay the New Jersey Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection annual assessment.2 It is the first count of this complaint against respondent that is most remarkable. It set forth allegations by four different women who claimed that respondent sexually harassed and/or discriminated against them. All of the women victims (three clients and one a family member of a client) were vulnerable financially and were seeking bankruptcy protection. The District VI Ethics Committee (DEC) conducted a hearing on March 28, 2008, at which respondent testified. In lieu of court appearances by the women who filed grievances against him, the DEC accepted the following stipulations establishing the anticipated content of each woman’s testimony.
(a) T.B. would testify that, on August 13, 2005, respondent was retained by L.B., Sr. (L.B., Sr.) to represent him in a bankruptcy matter. L.B., Sr. was assisted by his daughter, T.B., in discussing with respondent the fees required for handling L.B., Sr.’s bankruptcy. Respondent’s retainer agreement required a legal fee of $700 from L.B., Sr. When T.B. advised respondent that L.B., Sr. was short $300 in legal fees, respondent offered to meet T.B. in a hotel room for three hours, to take care of the $300. T.B. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a proposal to exchange sexual favors for the $300 balance owed by L.B., Sr. in legal fees. In *364or about January 2006, T.B. delivered documents to respondent’s office on behalf of L.B., Sr. At that time, L.B., Sr. owed respondent a balance of $200 in legal fees, which T.B. told respondent she was unable to remit on L.B., Sr.’s behalf. Whereupon, respondent offered that T.B. could come to his office in a bathing suit and dance for him, to take care of the $200. T.B. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a proposal to exchange sexual favors for the $200 balance owed by L.B., Sr. in legal fees;
(b) S.B. would testify that, in September 2005, S.B. retained respondent to represent her in a bankruptcy matter. On one occasion, when S.B. visited respondent’s office in the presence of her female friend, respondent remarked that many gay women “come on” to respondent and that respondent would like to see S.B. and her friend “make out”. At that time, respondent continued to state to S.B. that if he were permitted to watch them “make out,” he would file the bankruptcy free of charge. S.B. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a proposal to exchange sexual favors for the balance owed to respondent in legal fees. Thereafter, in a second incident, S.B. came to respondent’s office to make a fee payment and to inform him of an additional bankruptcy creditor. At that time, respondent stated that he would only add the creditor to S.B.’s bankruptcy if she lifted her skirt, at which S.B. refused, and left respondent’s office. S.B. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a proposal to exchange sexual favors for representation in her bankruptcy matter. Thereafter, on another trip to respondent’s office to make payment on the balance of legal fees owed to respondent, respondent stated that S.B. could satisfy her outstanding legal fees by either allowing him to watch her with her female friend or by allowing him to join in, to which S.B. refused. S.B. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a proposal to exchange sexual favors for the balance owed to respondent in legal fees. Thereafter, S.B. retained new counsel to complete her bankruptcy matter;
(c) S.S. would testify that, on July 18, 2001, S.S. retained respondent to represent her in filing a bankruptcy matter. During the course of respondent’s representation, he began to question S.S. about her personal life, ask if she would go out with him and made Inappropriate sexual advances to S.S., but S.S. declined his proposals. S.S. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a proposal to exchange sexual favors for representation in her bankruptcy matter. Thereafter, S.S. retained new counsel to complete her bankruptcy matter; and
(d) A.C. would testify that, in September 2005, A.C. retained respondent to represent her in a bankruptcy matter. At a subsequent appointment at respondent’s law office, respondent stated to A.C., “Oh, so you’re the gay girl”. After confirming her personal sexual orientation, respondent continued to remark about A.C.’s sexuality, as well as suggest that A.C.’s lesbianism was caused by a bad experience with the male sex organ. A.C. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a denigration of her lesbian lifestyle. Thereafter, after the conclusion of a bankruptcy hearing, respondent commented to A.C. that he was a “breast man,” that she was looking good that day and that if she came back to his office and joined him on his “office couch,” he would return to her $660 of the legal fees she previously paid, to which A.C. refused. A.C. understood respondent’s comments to constitute a proposal to exchange sexual favors for legal fees paid to respondent.
*365In response to those allegations, respondent asserted that whatever comments he made were made in jest, and that the women were retaliating against him by filing grievances. What is most notable about respondent’s testimony before the DEC is his total lack of comprehension of any wrongfulness in his conduct.3 When asked repeatedly whether he thought that his comments and actions were wrong, respondent showed no remorse, but instead appeared motivated by a desire to avoid future disciplinary complaints against him. Indeed, when he was finally pressed to answer whether he would continue to conduct himself as he had in the past, respondent replied, “[WJould I do things differently, heck yeah, because I left myself wide open.” Moreover, respondent voiced his discomfort with the inquiry:
The problem with the question and the answer, you know, if the Ethics Committee wants to write strict rules on what we can talk about and not talk about, fine, then put it out there but the Ethics Committee has too many rules that are generalities, appropriate behavior, appropriate conduct, whose definition? Your’s [siej, mine, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, you can’t tell me what’s appropriate and I can’t tell you what’s appropriate unless you want to say this is a moral ethics course and, I’m sorry, ... I can’t—it's hard to gel boxed in because you’re talking about freedom of speech, you’re talking about I can’t discuss what we want, talking about free market. If clients are offended, get another attorney, maybe people in here don’t like that answer but that’s what’s called free marketplace and if you want to be strict, then write strict rules, you know, you need stricter rules, your rules are too general.
Ultimately, the DEC rejected respondent’s assertion that his overtures to the four females were intended in jest, finding the defense “entirely unpersuasive.” The DEC found that respondent may have intended to trade his legal services for sexual favors, and that, regardless of his intent, the women clearly perceived his comments to be bartering offers. The DEC concluded that respondent violated RPC 1.7(a)(2), RPC 4.4(a), RPC 8.4(d), and RPC 8.4(g), and it recommended a censure.
*366On a de novo review of the record, the DRB agreed that respondent engaged in unethical conduct. It found that, in respect of the four grievants, respondent “repeatedly made sexual propositions that they interpreted as offers of respondent’s legal services in exchange for sex.” The DRB found no support for respondent’s claim that he was only joking, and gave “considerable weight to the clients’ interpretations—that respondent was attempting to obtain sexual favors from them.” Summarizing its findings as to the first count, the DRB described respondent as having “preyed on his female clients.” Further, it neatly captured the gist of respondent’s misconduct as follows:
[T]he misconduct involved four separate women, at what was arguably one of the most vulnerable times in their lives—while under bankruptcy protection (the fourth woman was accompanying her father, a bankruptcy client, to respondent’s office). His conduct was also spread out over a five-year time period, between 2001 and 2006 and, for some of the women, occurred on multiple occasions. Respondent offered discounted legal services, fee refunds—even free motion-practice—in hopes of receiving sexual favors.
For that, the DRB found a violation of RPC 1.7(a)(2) with respect to all four grievants.4 Also, the DRB found that respondent violated RPC 8.4(g),5 and it sustained the violation for practicing while ineligible entered by the DEC. With respect to the allegations that respondent violated RPCs 8.4(d) and 4.4, the DRB gave respondent the benefit of its doubt and dismissed those charges. A six-person majority of the DRB imposed a three-month suspension, while a two-person dissent viewed respondent’s behavior more harshly, and called for a six-month suspension. The matter came before this Court on an order to show cause to review the DRB findings, and a majority of our Court now sees fit to increase respondent’s suspension to one year.
*367My difference with the DRB, and with the majority of my colleagues on the Court, arises from the discipline to be imposed on respondent for his behavior. In my view, line drawing over the length of suspension misses the point that respondent’s behavior violated all expected and plainly held norms of professional behavior for an attorney at law.
II.
Respondent’s conduct is clearly and utterly inconsistent with any recognized norm of professionalism and threatens to draw our profession into disrepute. The only appropriate measure of discipline that protects the public from respondent’s intolerable behavior, and sends a zero-tolerance message toward lawyers who would consider preying on their clients is disbarment.
Some thirty years ago, Chief Justice Wilentz observed that “the principal reason for discipline is to preserve the confidence of the public in the integrity and trustworthiness of lawyers in general.” In re Wilson, 81 N.J. 451, 456, 409 A.2d 1153 (1979). Although Chief Justice Wilentz reemphasized this basic tenet in the context of charges stemming from misappropriation of client funds, his assessment is not restricted to that application. Because trust and integrity must pervade every level of the attorney-client relationship, I believe that it is antiquated to afford greater protections to a client’s financial interests than to his or her gender or sexual identity. One’s bodily integrity is at least as important as the security of the finances one entrusts to an attorney. In light of the overwhelming condemnation we, as a society, share for the type of behavior in which respondent engaged, his own inability to recognize the wrongfulness of his conduct reveals a man who is woefully out of touch, and certainly incapable of exercising the fitness of character required of an attorney at law.
Although the majority recites numerous previous disciplinary decisions of this Court, the cited precedent is readily distinguished from the rather unique issue in this case. Most of the cited cases *368involved the imposition of discipline as a collateral consequence of a criminal conviction that did not implicate the attorney-client relationship. See, e.g., In re Thompson, 197 N.J. 464, 963 A.2d 837 (2009) (ordering disbarment as collateral consequence of federal conviction for sexual exploitation of a minor).6 Only one case cited by our colleagues is remotely analogous to the instant proceeding, and even that ease arose in the context of a criminal conviction for four counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact: In re Gallo, 178 N.J. 115, 835 A.2d 682 (2003); see also 181 N.J. 304, 856 A.2d 30 (2004) (memorializing subsequent voluntary disbarment). Like Witherspoon, Gallo faced allegations of sexual misconduct from four separate women, three of whom were clients. 178 N.J. at 118, 835 A.2d 682. Unlike the present ease, however, the issue in Gallo did not focus on the quantum of discipline to be imposed, but rather on the need to develop a record beyond the guilty plea entered by Gallo. The case was remanded so that the Office of Attorney Ethics could develop a thorough record in order to make a proper determination of the appropriate quantum of discipline.7 Id. at 119-22, 835 A.2d 682. *369We imposed an indefinite suspension on Gallo pending the results of that hearing, id. at 125, 835 A.2d 682, although Gallo thereafter consented to voluntary disbarment, 181 N.J. 304, 856 A.2d 30.
Of all the precedent discussed by the majority, Gallo is most noteworthy. It clearly rejected, in unmistakable terms, the antediluvian disciplinary paradigm that previously might have tolerated or excused sexual misdeeds perpetrated by attorneys against clients:* ******8
We have traveled a far way from tolerance of sexual misconduct in the workplace and in our profession. We recognize the psychological damage that can bo inflicted on the victims of sexual abuse, who silently suffer and do not complain because they feel powerless to do so. The sexual abuse of a client is unacceptable in any profession and in any business setting, and cannot be tolerated in our profession, which holds as sacred the dignity of the individual.
[Gallo, supra, 178 N.J. at 123, 835 A.2d 682.] 9
In fact, announcing strong deviations from previously tolerated behavior in our profession is not exceptional for our Court. In executing our oversight of the legal profession in New Jersey, this Court has been compelled, from time to time, to examine and recalibrate the disciplinary measures meted against attorneys who have breached our strict ethical standards. See Wilson, supra, 81 N.J. at 459-61, 409 A.2d 1153. I would impose the highest level of *370discipline on respondent. I wholeheartedly reject his effort to mitigate his behavior through the suggestion that he was merely “joking around”; it is not respondent’s perspective that matters, but rather the perspectives of his clients, who sincerely believed that he was attempting to barter sex for legal services. When respondent’s clients sought his assistance in financial matters, rather than providing support and expertise, he instead exploited their vulnerability and violated their trust.
III.
Although the majority characterizes the result I reach as “a new bright line rule of automatic disbarment,” ante at 360, 3 A.3d at 505, that description denies the fact-based approach that leads me to conclude that disbarment is the appropriate discipline for respondent’s conduct toward clients in the context of the sanctity of lawyer-client interactions. Furthermore, my conclusion that respondent must be disbarred is supported by his troubling disciplinary history, and that history serves to underscore my resolve in the quantum of discipline he should face. Respondent has obviously failed to internalize the lessons to be learned from his past disciplinary experiences. In light of the seriousness of the current charges, respondent’s inexplicable lack of remorse, and his grim disciplinary history, I would disbar respondent.
Any new attorney, fresh from the law school study of ethics and professional responsibility, will wonder how any penalty short of disbarment would be appropriate discipline for respondent’s behavior. To borrow once again from Chief Justice Wilentz, “[a]s far as [I am] concerned, the only reason that disbarment might be necessary is that any other result risks something even more important, the continued confidence of the public in the integrity of the bar and the judiciary.” Wilson, supra, 81 N.J. at 460, 409 A.2d 1153.
For these reasons, I would disbar respondent. I therefore respectfully dissent.
*371For Suspension 1 year—Chief Justice RABNER and Justices LONG, WALLACE, RIVERA-SOTO and HOENS—5.
For Disbarment—Justices LaVECCHIA and ALBIN—2.
Opposed—N one.
ORDER
The Disciplinary Review Board having filed with the Court its decision in DRB 08-302, concluding that DAVID J. WITHER-SPOON of NEWARK, who was admitted to the bar of this State in 1994, should be disciplined, and respondent having been ordered to show cause why he should not be disbarred or otherwise disciplined, and good cause appearing;
It is ORDERED that DAVID J. WITHERSPOON is suspended from the practice of law for a period of one year and until the further Order of the Court, effective August 24, 2010; and it is further
ORDERED that DAVID J. WITHERSPOON enroll in and successfully complete a course in sensitivity training approved by the Office of Attorney Ethics, which training shall be completed prior to the filing of a petition for reinstatement to practice; and it is further
ORDERED that respondent demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Office of Attorney Ethics that he has put appropriate accounting controls in place in his practice and that he is in compliance with the recordkeeping requirements of Rule 1:21-6; and it is further
ORDERED that respondent comply with Rule 1:20-20 dealing with suspended attorneys; and it is further
ORDERED that pursuant to Rule l:20-20(c), respondent’s failure to comply with the Affidavit of Compliance requirement of Rule l:20-20(b)(15) may (1) preclude the Disciplinary Review Board from considering respondent’s petition for reinstatement for a period of up to six months from the date respondent files *372proof of compliance; (2) be found to constitute a violation of RPC 8.1(b) and RPC 8.4(c); and (3) provide a basis for an action for contempt pursuant to Rule 1:10-2; and it is further
ORDERED that the entire record of this matter be made a permanent part of respondent’s file as an attorney at law of this State; and it is further
ORDERED that respondent reimburse the Disciplinary Oversight Committee for appropriate administrative costs and actual expenses incurred in the prosecution of this matter, as provided in Rule 1:20-17.

 In addition to the instant disciplinary charges, it should be noted that respondent had a troubling disciplinary history. Since his admission to the New Jersey bar in 1994, respondent has been disciplined on four previous occasions. In 2002, he was admonished for failing to maintain a bona fide office, for improper letterhead, and for recordkeeping violations. In re Witherspoon, No. 02-050 (DRB Mar. 18, 2002). A year later, on May 6, 2003, respondent received a reprimand for his failure to communicate with his client in a tax appeal and for failing to cooperate with ethics authorities. In re Witherspoon, 176 N.J. 420-21, 823 A.2d 803 (2003). Later that same year, he was admonished for failing to communicate with another tax appeal client. In re Witherspoon, No. 03-280 (DRB Oct. 24, 2003). In 2008, respondent was censured, yet again, for failing to communicate with a tax appeal client. In re Witherspoon, 193 N.J. 489, 940 A.2d 297.

 Inexplicably, respondent thought he might garner some sympathy from the DEC because he had represented S.S., who was a Muslim and dressed in traditional fashion "from head to toe,” and how he had traveled with her to the bankruptcy hearing shortly after September 11, 2001, at a time when he perceived strong anti-Muslim sentiment "going on.”

 The DRB commented that respondent, “[hjaving placed his own prurient interests above those of his clients, ... created the possibility that he would not view their matters favorably if his advances were rejected.”

 The DRB concluded that respondent sexually harassed all four women, some on more than one occasion, and discriminated against S.B. and A.C. based on their sexual orientation.

 Although criminal convictions for such sexual offenses certainly give rise to serious concerns about an attorney’s fitness to practice, such collateral occurrences are not "the principle reason" we exercise discipline over attorneys. See Wilson, supra, 81 N.J. at 456, 409 A.2d 1153. Rather, our function is to protect and maintain public confidence in the bar, and in the dignity of our profession. See ibid.

 That holding is central to understanding the Gallo decision. Yet, although relying on Gallo, the majority today indicates a willingness to accept the brief and targeted stipulated statements from the victims. Resting only on those statements, the majority assumes that "none of [the grievants] felt sufficiently pressured that she even considered giving in; none sought therapy or treatment to overcome the experience; none has suggested the incidents were traumatic; and none pursued criminal charges." Ante at 360, 3 A.3d at 506.
The record is silent as to all those facts, and does not provide even a modicum of support for any of those conclusions. What is clear is the extraordinaiy fact that four different women were so appalled and disturbed by respondent’s conduct that they each filed a disciplinary complaint against him.
The majority is also content to conclude, on the barren record presented, that "nothing ... suggests that these women, or women filing for bankruptcy in *369general, are especially vulnerable or more in distress because of the nature of their legal matters than are other categories of clients." Ante at 360, 3 A.3d at 506. I must respectfully disagree with that analysis because it ignores the fact that respondent targeted his advances precisely at his clients’ vulnerability: he offered to forgive, in exchange for sexual favors, the debts owed him for legal work by women in bankruptcy who were obviously experiencing financial difficulty.

 Notably Gallo did not refer at all to In re Liebowitz, 104 N.J. 175, 516 A.2d 246 (1985), another case cited by the majority herein, where the punishment imposed was radically different than what modern sensibilities reasonably would expect.

 For completeness, we note that Gallo was decided in 2003. Although one of the grievants in the instant matter fell victim to respondent’s sexual misconduct in 2001, the remaining three did not experience it until 2005. Thus, respondent had the benefit of our opinion in Gallo, and should have conformed his behavior accordingly.