Court Opinion

ID: 9702795
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-25 23:24:17.685373+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:21:41.657090
License: Public Domain

Dissenting opinion by
WILNER, J.,
joined by HARRELL, J.
For the reasons stated in my dissent in Attorney Grievance Comm’n v. Stein, 373 Md. 531, 819 A.2d 372 (2003), I dissent from the sanction imposed here. The only thing that makes sense is for Brooke either to renounce/disclaim the bequest he wrongfully placed in his client’s Will or, if that is no longer possible because of the extent to which the estate has already been administered, to pay the funds over to those who otherwise would have received them if the bequest had not been made. That, and that alone, gives the Rule meaning.
Even if, as the Majority surmises, Brooke may not be in a position to renounce/disclaim formally the bequest he is to receive, the possible repercussions foreseen by the Majority were Brooke’s readmission tied, expressly or otherwise, to a condition of renunciation/disclaimer would not be unjust in this case. Brooke’s claimed lack of knowledge as to the existence of the requirements of Rule 1.8(c) at the time the Will was prepared was accepted as fact by the hearing judge; however, according to information gleaned from the record, that state of ignorant bliss did not extend beyond March 27, 2000. On that date, Mr. Sherpinski’s son apparently raised the violation of *184the Rule as a ground of his caveat in a hearing in the Orphan’s Court. The Register of Wills, in a letter of May 16, 2000, notified the Attorney Grievance Commission of the allegation vis á vis Rule 1.8(c), the receipt of which letter apparently instigated the Commission’s interest in this matter. Yet, Brooke thereafter proceeded to formalize a settlement with Mr. Sherpinski’s son, by which Brooke secured a 55% interest in the estate bequest. The order effectuating that settlement in the Orphan’s Court was entered on March 13, 2002. Thus, it appears Brooke knew or should have known of the requirements of Rule 1.8(c) long before he proceeded to secure the bequest for himself.
Judge HARRELL authorizes me to state that he joins in this Dissent.