Court Opinion

ID: 9892064
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-20 14:05:48.697743+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:22:03.354434
License: Public Domain

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA

                                  No. 23–0160

            Submitted September 13, 2023—Filed October 20, 2023

IOWA SUPREME COURT ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY BOARD,

      Complainant,

vs.

MIKE MULAMBA MBANZA,

      Respondent.

      On review of the report of the Iowa Supreme Court Grievance Commission.

      In an attorney disciplinary action, the grievance commission recommends

a thirty-day suspension of the respondent’s license to practice law and additional

continuing legal education requirements based on violations of our attorney

ethics rules. LICENSE SUSPENDED.

      McDermott, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which all justices

joined.

      Tara van Brederode and Allison Schmidt, Des Moines, for complainant.
      Mike Mbanza, Coralville, pro se.
                                          2

MCDERMOTT, Justice.
      This attorney disciplinary appeal presents the case of a lawyer whose

misconduct while defending himself against ethics charges eclipsed the gravity

of the underlying charges from which his case arose. The case started with a

charge about a false certification by the lawyer on a client’s federal immigration

application. It ends, regrettably, as a cautionary tale for lawyers about the

bounds of proper advocacy when defending against ethics charges. Although

lawyers are entitled to put on a zealous defense in ethics cases, they aren’t

allowed to stonewall when responding to discovery requests, file frivolous

motions, or engage in similar obstructive conduct in a grievance commission

proceeding.

      The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board charged the lawyer

with violating multiple Iowa ethics rules and a federal regulation governing

practice in immigration matters. The grievance commission concluded that the

lawyer committed several of the charged violations and also found significant

aggravating conduct. It recommended that we suspend the lawyer’s license for

thirty days and require additional continuing legal education. In our de novo

review, we find that the lawyer violated the federal regulation and impose a
thirty-day suspension.

      I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

      Mike Mbanza was admitted to practice law in Iowa in April 2019. A little

more than a year before receiving his law license, the United States Department

of Justice’s Office of Legal Access Programs approved Mbanza to work as a

fully-accredited   representative   in   federal   immigration   matters.   Mbanza

maintains a solo law practice in Coralville and also serves as the executive

director and provides legal services to a nonprofit organization that he founded
                                        3

in 2013 called “Path of Hope.” Path of Hope’s mission centers on assisting

immigrants and refugees in legal and resettlement matters.

      In May 2018, Mbanza began representing a client—whom we’ll call

“Randall”—on federal immigration matters. (“Randall” is not the client’s real

name, but because he had a criminal charge expunged after a deferred judgment,

as discussed below, we use a pseudonym here.) In mid-2019, Randall was

arrested for domestic abuse assault against his wife. Mbanza defended Randall

in the criminal case that ensued. Randall ultimately pleaded guilty to the charge

and received a deferred judgment. Around this same time, Mbanza also

represented Randall in a marital dissolution case and a civil protective order

proceeding related to the domestic abuse assault. The court entered a divorce

decree in January 2020.

      Randall’s immigration matters continued on. In late March 2020, Path of

Hope submitted to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services a

document titled, “Application to Register Permanent Resident or Adjust Status,”

Form I-485, on Randall’s behalf. The I-485 application, which bore the date

March 30, 2020, contained several misrepresentations. In a section that sought

information about Randall’s marital status, the application reported that Randall
was still married to the woman that he’d divorced two months earlier. In response

to five separate questions about Randall’s criminal history, the application failed

to disclose his commission of the domestic abuse assault, arrest, criminal

charges, guilty plea, and deferred judgment. The application similarly failed to

provide information responding to a series of inquiries seeking additional details

about the criminal history disclosures, including “why you were arrested . . . or

charged; where you were arrested . . . or charged; when (date) the event occurred;

and the outcome of disposition.”
                                         4

      Randall’s I-485 application contained a “preparer’s certification.” It stated:

             By my signature, I certify, under penalty of perjury, that I
      prepared this application at the request of the applicant. The
      applicant then reviewed this completed application and informed me
      that he or she understands all of the information contained in, and
      submitted with, his or her application, including the Applicant’s
      Certification, and that all of this information is complete, true, and
      correct. I completed this application based only on information that
      the applicant provided to me or authorized me to obtain or use.

(Emphasis omitted.) Mbanza signed the preparer’s certification even though, as

we discuss in more detail below, he had not prepared or reviewed the document.

      The Iowa Attorney Disciplinary Board later became aware of the

misrepresentations in Randall’s I-485 application. The Board proposed a public

reprimand to resolve the ethics violations associated with Mbanza’s false

preparer’s certification. In a response letter to the Board objecting to the

proposed public reprimand dated August 31, 2020, Mbanza claimed that the

application was prepared by a Path of Hope nonlawyer staff member named

Naara. Mbanza wrote that she “filled out the form based on the information she

received directly from [Randall].” The letter continues: “She received clear

instruction from me, according to the agency’s internal practice and procedures,

to contact [Randall] and obtain his biographical and background data to prepare
[his] Application for Permanent Residency and mail it to DHS. Naara did exactly

that.” Mbanza writes that the reason Randall would have provided her with

incorrect answers “is still unknown, and Naara did not bring these issues to me

because she had no reason to doubt [Randall’s] statements.” Mbanza reiterated

that “Naara prepared the Application relying on the information received from

[Randall] and mailed it to DHS as instructed.” As to what happened next, Mbanza

writes: “Upon the discovery of this error, however, DHS was contacted under my
                                        5

instructions and corrections were made to [the] Application for Permanent

Residency to reflect his current criminal background.”

      The Board filed a complaint against Mbanza with the Iowa Supreme Court

Grievance Commission. The charges relating to Mbanza’s submission of the

application alleged multiple violations of Iowa’s ethics rules and a violation of a

federal regulation governing practitioners in immigration matters. Mbanza

denied every paragraph of the complaint in his answer. The Board later amended

the complaint to add a charge unrelated to the application, but the grievance

commission found that the Board failed to prove this claim, and the Board

doesn’t pursue it on appeal.

      The rules of the grievance commission entitle both the responding lawyer

and the Board to conduct discovery as provided in the Iowa Rules of Civil

Procedure. See Iowa Ct. R. 36.13. But the rules do not require a lawyer charged

with an ethics violation to answer an interrogatory, request for admission, or

deposition question if the answer would be self-incriminating. Id. Even so, the

lawyer still must “respond to the committee’s request even if it is only to

announce that he is exercising his fifth amendment rights.” Comm. on Prof’l

Ethics & Conduct of the Iowa State Bar Ass’n v. Horn, 379 N.W.2d 6, 9 (Iowa
1985).

      The grievance commission proceeding included an extraordinary number

of discovery disputes, almost all of which centered on Mbanza’s refusal to provide

meaningful answers to the Board’s discovery requests. In response to each of the

Board’s initial set of document requests and interrogatories, Mbanza offered only

this response: “This information is reserved for impeachment purposes only and

not subject to disclosure under Rule 1.500 of the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedures.”

After unsuccessful attempts to get Mbanza to provide a substantive response,
the Board filed a motion to compel discovery and extend the discovery deadline.
                                       6

The grievance commission’s division president granted the Board’s motion and

ordered Mbanza to serve substantive responses within ten days.

      When Mbanza failed to adequately respond, the Board sought sanctions

against him. The division president agreed that Mbanza’s responses remained

deficient, and he again gave Mbanza time to amend his responses. When Mbanza

continued to provide inadequate responses, the division president granted the

Board’s requested sanction: prohibiting Mbanza from offering any documents or

eliciting testimony responsive to the Board’s discovery requests that hadn’t been

provided in his responses.

      The Board followed up with a second motion to compel after Mbanza failed

to adequately respond to requests for admission. Most of the requests for

admission dealt simply with the authenticity of documents in the case. The

commission’s division president determined that Mbanza’s answers to the

requests and responses to related interrogatories denying any requests were

deficient, and he gave Mbanza time to supplement his responses. The division

president later determined that Mbanza’s revised answers were still evasive or

incomplete and thus that he’d failed to comply with the order. As a sanction, the

division president, citing Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.517(1)(c), deemed
admitted fourteen of the Board’s fifteen requests for admission. The Board also

moved to have Mbanza’s denials in his amended answer (which it also argued

were deficient) deemed admitted, but the division president denied this motion.

      Mbanza engaged in considerable motion practice of his own, much of it

frivolous. Shortly after the Board filed its complaint with the grievance

commission, Mbanza sent an email to the two lawyers handling the case on

behalf of the Board. In his email, Mbanza threatened to file claims against each

of them, informing them that if the Board didn’t dismiss the complaint, they
“should expect claims of malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of
                                        7

emotional distress naming you personally and professionally as a Defendant.”

Five days before the hearing, Mbanza filed with the grievance commission what

he labeled a “counterclaim” against the two Board lawyers alleging these causes

of action. The grievance commission’s rules provide no mechanism for an

attorney to pursue a counterclaim against the Board, its agents, or anyone else,

and the motion was promptly denied. Mbanza additionally filed a motion to

shorten the deadline to respond to his counterclaim, a motion for directed verdict

(before the hearing had even started), a motion to disqualify the Board’s

attorneys, a motion for summary judgment, and a motion to dismiss. All were

denied.

      The hearing before the grievance commission spanned two days. Mbanza

represented himself at the hearing. Two witnesses testified: Naara and Mbanza.

Mbanza’s testimony about the events surrounding the application differed in

important ways from what he’d stated in his objection letter to the Board a year

earlier. Mbanza testified that the I-485 application dated March 30 was merely

a draft that had never been submitted to the agency. Instead, according to

Mbanza, a final version with corrected information had been prepared and

submitted after Mbanza met with Randall in May 2020.
      Mbanza’s hearing testimony contradicted the statements in his letter

claiming that his office had submitted the application in March 2020 and

thereafter contacted the agency to correct it. The information in Mbanza’s

objection letter generally is supported by Naara’s testimony on this point.

      What’s more, Mbanza’s testimony also contradicted other evidence offered

at the hearing, including a notation on an internal work report for Randall’s case

showing the following activity for March 30: “Naara [c]ompleted forms I-485,

I-131, and G-28. Prepared packets and processed them. They were mailed out.”
Additionally, if the application dated March 30 really had been merely a draft, it
                                        8

makes little sense for Mbanza to have personally signed the draft as he did in

three different places.

       Mbanza, for his part, did not introduce into evidence a corrected, final

version of the application that he claims to have filed in May 2020. Mbanza

offered a certified mail receipt of a mailing to Randall noting “I-485” and dated

May 13. He also points to a notice from the Department of Homeland Security

with a stamp showing receipt of an application on May 26. But Mbanza had not

previously suggested in any case filings, discovery responses, or other

communications with the Board that the application dated March 30 was a draft

and had never been submitted to the agency. In the commission’s findings of fact

after the hearing, the commission wrote that “[t]hroughout the hearing, Mbanza’s

testimony was evasive or contradictory on several points,” including this critical

one.

       The grievance commission ultimately concluded that the Board had proved

several of the charged violations. It recommended that we impose a thirty-day

suspension of Mbanza’s license and require him to attend six additional hours

of continuing legal education on ethics and civil procedure.

       II. Ethical Violations.
       In an attorney disciplinary case, we review de novo the alleged violations

and evidence to ensure that the Board has proved each allegation of misconduct

by a convincing preponderance of the evidence. Iowa Ct. R. 36.22(4); see Iowa

Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Wagner, 768 N.W.2d 279, 281–82 (Iowa 2009)

(per curiam).

       A. False Statement on the I-485 Application. The grievance commission

determined that by signing the preparer’s certification and submitting the I-485

application dated March 30 that contained material misrepresentations, Mbanza
                                        9

violated both a federal regulation governing immigration practice and Iowa’s

attorney ethics rules.

      We start by addressing a choice of law issue. As an Iowa licensee, Mbanza

is subject to the disciplinary authority of our court. See Iowa R. of Prof’l

Conduct 32:8.5(a) (“A lawyer admitted to practice in Iowa is subject to the

disciplinary authority of Iowa, regardless of where the lawyer’s conduct occurs.”).

Mbanza is also subject to federal regulation because he filed an appearance in

Randall’s immigration case with the Department of Homeland Security, and on

his appearance form, he acknowledged having read and understood “the

regulations and conditions contained in 8 CFR 103.2 and 292 governing

appearances and representation before DHS.” One of those conditions is that his

appearance subjects him to regulation under (among other regulations) section

1003.102 of the Code of Federal Regulations. See 8 C.F.R. § 1003.102.

      The grievance commission noted that Mbanza did not challenge the

Board’s attempt to prosecute him under both Iowa Rule of Professional

Conduct 32:3.3 and 8 C.F.R. § 1003.102(c). It thus applied and found violations

of both. But in situations where a lawyer could find himself subject to conflicting

sets of ethics rules, we generally apply the choice of law provisions in our ethics
rules. See Iowa R. of Prof’l Conduct 32:8.5(b).

      For instance, in Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Akpan,

we addressed a choice of law issue involving ethical violations by an Iowa licensee

practicing in federal court in Texas. 951 N.W.2d 440, 449 (Iowa 2020). We noted

that Iowa’s ethics rules subjected the lawyer both to Iowa’s disciplinary authority

and the disciplinary rules of Texas. Id. (citing Iowa R. of Prof’l Con-

duct 32:8.5(b)(2)). In Akpan, the lawyer’s actions all occurred while practicing in

Texas, so we applied Texas’s interpretation of its own ethics rules in evaluating
the lawyer’s conduct. Id. at 449–54.
                                        10

      In this case, Mbanza’s conduct involving the submission of the I-485

application occurred while practicing before the Customs and Immigration

Service. We thus will apply the rules of that jurisdiction—specifically, 8 C.F.R.

§ 1003.102(c)—and will not take up the claim that Mbanza’s certification also

violated the similarly worded Iowa Rule of Professional Conduct 32:3.3. See Iowa

R. of Prof’l Conduct 32:8.5(b)(2).

      The Code of Federal Regulations provides for disciplinary sanctions

against a practitioner who

      [k]nowingly or with reckless disregard makes a false statement of
      material fact or law, or willfully misleads, misinforms, threatens, or
      deceives any person (including . . . an officer or employee of the
      Department of Justice), concerning any material and relevant matter
      relating to a case, including knowingly or with reckless disregard
      offering false evidence.

8 C.F.R. § 1003.102(c). The Board argues that Mbanza violated this regulation

by certifying that he had prepared and reviewed the application with Randall

when Mbanza knew that he had not. It is true, as Mbanza points out, that the

preparer’s certification doesn’t include an attestation about the accuracy of the

information on the form. But the preparer’s certification, by its own terms, is the

preparer’s avowal to have recorded the applicant’s information—and to have
reviewed and confirmed its accuracy with the applicant—to ensure that all the

“information is complete, true, and correct.” The duty imposed on the preparer

in making this declaration is significant: “under penalty of perjury.”

      Mbanza argues that we can’t discipline him for a violation of

section 1003.102(c) because the governing authority in the jurisdiction in which

the misconduct occurred—the Citizenship and Immigration Services—hasn’t

pursued him for any misconduct. But our ethics rules make clear that “[a] lawyer

admitted to practice in Iowa is subject to the disciplinary authority of Iowa,
regardless of where the lawyer’s conduct occurs,” and the “lawyer may be subject
                                        11

to the disciplinary authority of both Iowa and another jurisdiction for the same

conduct.” Iowa R. of Prof’l Conduct 32:8.5(a). Whether another body with

jurisdiction over an Iowa lawyer has separately prosecuted a violation doesn’t

dictate our court’s independent authority to do so.

      We could not find, and the parties do not cite, any federal immigration

cases addressing a violation of section 1003.102(c) based on a misrepresentation

in a preparer’s certification. But applying the plain language of the regulation to

the facts in this case, we conclude that Mbanza made a false statement of mate-

rial fact by certifying and submitting the application on March 30 in violation of

the federal regulation.

      Although the Board also pursued violations under Iowa Rule of

Professional Conduct 32:8.4(c) for “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit,

or misrepresentation,” the grievance commission concluded that Mbanza’s

misconduct fit more appropriately under the rules already discussed. The Board

doesn’t challenge that conclusion or otherwise argue for a violation under

rule 32:8.4(c) on appeal, so we will not address it.

      B. Supervision of Nonlawyer Staff. Rule 32:5.3 requires “a lawyer [with]

direct supervisory authority over [a] nonlawyer shall make reasonable efforts to
ensure that the person’s conduct is compatible with the professional obligations

of the lawyer.” Iowa R. of Prof’l Conduct 32:5.3(b). A supervising lawyer is

responsible for the nonlawyer’s conduct if the conduct would be a violation of

the ethics rules “if engaged in by a lawyer” and if “the lawyer orders or, with the

knowledge of the specific conduct, ratifies the conduct involved; or . . . knows of

the conduct at a time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but

fails to take reasonable remedial action.” Id. r. 32:5.3(c)(1)–(2). We have found a

violation of this rule when a lawyer could have prevented the supervised
                                        12

nonlawyer’s misconduct through reasonable efforts but failed to do so. See Iowa

Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Barnhill, 847 N.W.2d 466, 481–82 (Iowa 2014).

      The Board argues that Mbanza violated this rule by failing to instruct

nonlawyer Naara about the types of information needed to complete an I-485

application. The Board focuses on an intraoffice information form that Mbanza

had Naara use to gather biographical data from Randall. The form failed to ask

about Randall’s marital status or criminal history. This failure, the Board argues,

lies at the root of the misrepresentations on the I-485 application that Mbanza’s

office submitted on March 30. The grievance commission concluded that

Mbanza’s supervision of Naara violated rule 32:5.3(c).

      But the focus on Naara’s work on the application points the spotlight in

the wrong place. Naara testified that after she gathered the information from the

client and inserted it into the I-485 application, she understood that Mbanza

would review and verify the information with the client. Mbanza testified to the

same thing. In fact, such a process isn’t inconsistent with the preparer’s certifi-

cation on the I-485 application discussed above. The person signing as pre-

parer—in this case, Mbanza—must certify under penalty of perjury that he has

reviewed the completed application and verified the information in it with the
client. Considering the preliminary role that Naara played in what was supposed

to be a multistep process, we do not find that she engaged in any conduct “that

would be a violation of the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct if engaged in by a

lawyer.” Iowa R. of Prof’l Conduct 32:5.3(c).

      The procedure that Mbanza put in place dividing duties between himself

and Naara is ethically unproblematic. Paralegals and other nonlawyer staff

routinely assist in gathering and assimilating information for legal filings. The

misconduct in this case stems not from Naara’s work on the unsubmitted
application, but from Mbanza’s failure to fulfill his verification duties as the
                                        13

certifying preparer. We thus find no violation based on Mbanza’s supervision of

nonlawyer staff under rule 32:5.3.

      III. Sanction.

      “The purposes of lawyer discipline include protection of the public, the

need for deterring other lawyers from similar misconduct, upholding the integrity

of the legal system, and assuring the fair administration of justice.” Iowa Sup.

Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Beauvais, 948 N.W.2d 505, 516 (Iowa 2020); see also

Am. Bar Ass’n, Annotated Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions § 1.1, at 1

(2015) [hereinafter Am. Bar. Ass’n]. We have no standard sanction for particular

types of misconduct. Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Clarity, 838 N.W.2d

648, 660 (Iowa 2013). To determine the appropriate sanction, we consider the

nature of the ethical duties that the lawyer violated, the lawyer’s mental state,

the extent of the actual or potential injury caused by the lawyer’s misconduct,

and any aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Beauvais, 948 N.W.2d at

516; see also Am. Bar Ass’n § 3.0, at 113.

      We give respectful consideration to the commission’s findings and

recommendations but may impose a greater or lesser sanction than what the

commission recommends. Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Stoller,
879 N.W.2d 199, 207 (Iowa 2016). The commission recommends a thirty-day

suspension of Mbanza’s license to practice law and completion of six additional

continuing legal education credits (CLE) beyond the regular fifteen-hour annual

requirement, with three hours devoted to ethics and three hours devoted to civil

procedure. The Board requests that we adopt the commission’s recommendation

as to both the suspension and CLE requirements. Mbanza asks that we dismiss

the complaint in its entirety or, in the event we find a violation, that we issue a

private admonition.
                                       14

         Although we haven’t had occasion to consider a sanction for lawyer

misconduct under 8 C.F.R. § 1003.102(c), we have imposed discipline for

violations under the aforementioned rule 32:3.3, which contains almost identical

language forbidding knowingly making a false statement of fact or law to a

tribunal. Compare 8 C.F.R. § 1003.102(c), with Iowa R. of Prof’l Conduct 32:3.3.

For instance, in Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Kallsen, we

imposed a one-year suspension when a lawyer violated rule 32:3.3 by forging the

signature on a written guilty plea of a defendant the lawyer was representing.

814 N.W.2d 233, 238–40 (Iowa 2012). But the lawyer in that case had a history

of prior discipline and, as we remarked, the underlying forgery at issue involved

a “grave and serious breach of professional ethics.” Id. at 239 (quoting Iowa

Supreme Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Rickabaugh, 728 N.W.2d 375, 382 (Iowa

2007)).

         In Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Casey, we imposed

a three-month suspension when a lawyer filed a document with the court

misrepresenting the marital status of a decedent in a probate case. 761 N.W.2d

53, 61 (Iowa 2009) (per curiam). But the misconduct in that case went beyond

this misrepresentation and included neglect of cases, the premature taking of
probate fees, and a failure to promptly respond to the Board’s investigation. Id.

at 62.

         In Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Haskovec, we ad-

dressed a lawyer’s misconduct involving a witness’s signature on a will.

869 N.W.2d 554, 562 (Iowa 2015). For a will to be valid, two witnesses must sign

it in the presence of the testator and each other. Id. at 561 (citing Iowa Code

§ 633.279(1) (2011)). The lawyer had one of the witnesses sign the will outside

the presence of the testator and the other witness, and then gave the will to the
                                         15

executor to probate it without disclosing the problem. Id. We imposed a public

reprimand. Id. at 563.

      In Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Yang, a lawyer and

his client failed to attend an immigration court hearing, resulting in the dismissal

of the client’s case. 821 N.W.2d 425, 428–29 (Iowa 2012). The lawyer then

misrepresented in an appeal filing that he had personally received notice from

the immigration court about the hearing—which might have permitted the

attorney to appear by telephone and excused the failure to appear in person—

when in fact the lawyer had not received the hearing notice. Id. The lawyer failed

to advise the client that he could file a motion alleging the lawyer’s ineffective

assistance of counsel as a ground to reopen the proceeding. Id. at 430. In this

case, too, we imposed a public reprimand. Id. at 431.

      The case perhaps most analogous to this one is Iowa Supreme Court

Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Palmer, 825 N.W.2d 322 (Iowa 2013). In Palmer,

we imposed a thirty-day suspension when a lawyer violated rule 32:3.3 by filing

falsely notarized documents with the court and thus “misrepresenting through

the acts of notarization that [the client] had appeared before him in person to

sign the documents.” Id. at 324–25. But in that case, we also found that the
lawyer’s conduct was prejudicial to the administration of justice because it

required the court to expend attention and resources to determine the

authenticity of the client’s purported signatures and the legitimacy of the

notarization. Id. at 325. “[A]cts which violate well-understood norms and

conventions of the practice of law and hamper the efficient and proper operation

of the courts,” we declared, “will generally constitute a violation.” Id. (alteration

in original) (quoting Iowa Supreme Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Liles, 808 N.W.2d

203, 206 (Iowa 2012)).
                                        16

      We turn to mitigating and aggravating factors. Mbanza’s lack of prior

discipline is mitigating, although this factor doesn’t carry much weight since

Mbanza was only in his first year of practice when the underlying misconduct

occurred. See Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Sears, 933 N.W.2d 214, 225

(Iowa 2019). Mbanza’s inexperience in the practice of law is mitigating. See Iowa

Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Turner, 918 N.W.2d 130, 155 (Iowa 2018). That

Mbanza focuses his practice on an underserved community is likewise a

mitigating factor. See Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Said, 953 N.W.2d

126, 155 (Iowa 2021). Mbanza’s wife was diagnosed with cancer while this

disciplinary matter proceeded, and the personal stress that her health problems

created can be mitigating to the extent it adversely influenced his behavior or

actions during the disciplinary case (although, based on the timing, it would

have had no impact on his underlying misrepresentation on the application). See

Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Van Ginkel, 809 N.W.2d 96, 110 (Iowa

2012). Mbanza’s effort to correct the false information about Randall’s criminal

history and marital status after submitting the I-485 application, as described

in his letter to the Board, is also mitigating. See Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary

Bd. v. Boles, 808 N.W.2d 431, 442 (Iowa 2012).
      The aggravating factors in this case are considerable. As an initial matter,

Mbanza’s misrepresentation in the preparer’s certification involves dishonesty,

which even inexperienced lawyers must recognize is wrong. Beauvais,

948 N.W.2d at 518. Further, that Mbanza needed to contact the Citizenship and

Immigration Services to correct the false information on Randall’s original I-485

application at minimum alerted the immigration authorities to problematic facts

in Randall’s application. While we have no evidence of actual harm to the client,

having to highlight Randall’s criminal conduct as described in Mbanza’s letter
                                       17

poses risks that work to the client’s disadvantage. See Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y

Disciplinary Bd. v. Johnson, 988 N.W.2d 399, 418 (Iowa 2023).

      Mbanza’s extraordinary actions throughout the grievance commission

process are a severely aggravating factor. Mbanza refused to substantively

answer virtually every request for discovery that the Board made to him, leaving

the grievance commission little choice but to impose harsh sanctions for his

repeated refusals to provide answers. Mbanza argues on appeal that the division

president erred in imposing discovery sanctions against him, but we find nothing

erroneous about the ruling. “The attorney may not ‘stonewall’ the disciplinary

authorities, and, indeed, simple disregard for requests for information may result

in non-responses being treated as admissions.” 16 Gregory C. Sisk et al., Iowa

Practice Series Lawyer and Judicial Ethics § 12:1(c), at 1045–46 (2023 ed. 2023).

The decision to impose sanctions finds ample support in this record.

      Resisting discovery wasn’t Mbanza’s only impropriety during the grievance

commission proceeding. As mentioned, Mbanza made an assortment of frivolous

filings. Employing a strategy seemingly founded on the belief that the best

defense is a no-holds-barred offense, Mbanza threatened to file malicious

prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims if the Board
didn’t dismiss the charges and ultimately followed through. The grievance

commission’s rules provide no mechanism for an attorney to pursue a

counterclaim against other lawyers in the proceeding. Mbanza also filed a series

of other motions that lacked merit, including a motion for directed verdict before

the hearing had started or evidence had been presented—typically necessary

precursors to such a motion. All were denied; indeed, most do not even apply in

grievance commission proceedings. The Board and the commission nonetheless

had to expend time and resources responding to them.
                                       18

      Mbanza’s actions during the grievance commission proceeding almost

certainly constitute conduct “prejudicial to the administration of justice” under

rule 32:8.4(d). Iowa R. of Prof’l Conduct 32:8.4(d). While there is no “typical”

conduct that prejudices the administration of justice, it includes conduct that

“hamper[s] ‘the efficient and proper operation of the courts,’ ” including conduct

that results in unnecessary proceedings or delays. Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y

Disciplinary Bd. v. Vandel, 889 N.W.2d 659, 666 (Iowa 2017) (quoting Iowa Sup.

Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Templeton, 784 N.W.2d 761, 768 (Iowa 2010)).

      Mbanza’s failure to respond to discovery in this case caused the Board to

file multiple motions to compel and required the commission to hold hearings on

the motions and sanctions. In Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board

v. Beauvais, we held that a lawyer’s failure to respond to discovery requests that

then required the defendants to file two motions to compel and a motion for

sanctions—and for the court to hold hearings on those motions—violated rule

32:8.4(d). 948 N.W.2d at 515–16. Mbanza’s conduct throughout the commission

process certainly serves as an aggravating factor in determining the appropriate

discipline.

      The grievance commission also concluded that Mbanza’s testimony at the
hearing was not credible—or, as the commission put it, “evasive, contradictory,

and false.” In our de novo review of the record, we come to the same conclusion.

Deceptive testimony by a lawyer is an obvious aggravating factor. Iowa Sup. Ct.

Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. Barnhill, 885 N.W.2d 408, 424 (Iowa 2016). The most

troubling area of Mbanza’s testimony concerned details of the application’s

submission and the incongruity of his hearing testimony when compared to his

letter provided to the Board more than a year before. That this testimony came

after Mbanza repeatedly refused to provide information in discovery adds to its
aggravating nature.
                                       19

      We determine the appropriate sanction in an attorney disciplinary matter

based on the unique circumstances of the case before us and aim for consistency

with our prior cases. Iowa Sup. Ct. Att’y Disciplinary Bd. v. McGinness,

844 N.W.2d 456, 464 (Iowa 2014). This is an unusual case in which the

underlying misconduct—the misrepresentation associated with the preparer’s

certification on the I-415 application—on its own likely would not warrant a

suspension. See, e.g., Haskovec, 869 N.W.2d at 562–63; Yang, 821 N.W.2d at

430–31. And indeed, a public reprimand is the sanction the Board originally

proposed. Yet more egregious conduct presents itself in Mbanza’s actions during

the grievance commission proceeding that pushes this case into suspension

territory. Although a lawyer has the right to defend himself zealously against

ethics charges in a grievance commission proceeding, Mbanza’s conduct in this

case, unfortunately, far exceeded that right.

      We thus find a suspension of thirty days to be the appropriate sanction in

this case. We do not impose any additional CLE requirements.

      IV. Disposition.

      We suspend Mike Mbanza’s license to practice law with no possibility for

reinstatement for thirty days. The suspension will begin ten days from the date
of this decision. Iowa Ct. R. 34.23(1). Mbanza’s suspension applies to all facets

of the practice of law under Iowa Court Rule 34.23(3). He must comply with the

notification requirements to his clients in Iowa Court Rule 34.24. We tax the

costs of this action to Mbanza under Iowa Court Rule 36.24(1).

      LICENSE SUSPENDED.