Court Opinion

ID: 9614095
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:22:30.638088+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:51:15.995181
License: Public Domain

BAXTER, J.,
Concurring and Dissenting.—I agree that petitioner has demonstrated no excuse for his failure to pursue timely remedies before the State Bar Court. Petitioner’s “false memories” theory is inherently implausible. Thus, as the majority conclude, no remand to the State Bar Court is justified, and this court should not consider petitioner’s exculpatory evidence for any reason.
I respectfully dissent, however, from much of the remaining analysis, and from the discipline imposed. An independent assessment of the evidence demonstrates a serious pattern of prejudicial misconduct warranting actual suspension.
The majority suggest that the hearing judge’s recommendation of leniency stemmed from his belief that several of the charges had not been established by the declaratory evidence. However, the hearing judge ultimately found multiple counts of abandonment (Hubbard, Fields, and Bilson), overcommitment (Hubbard and Fields), retention of unearned fees (Fields, Bilson, and Rhodes), incompetence (all four matters), and failure to communicate (all four matters). Except in the Bilson case, the undisputed evidence supporting each of these findings was clear and convincing, and they should be upheld.1
*1269The majority also stress the hearing judge’s impression that petitioner’s misconduct caused no substantial harm to his clients. However, the hearing judge’s opinion on that subject deserves no special deference.
“The State Bar Court’s findings ... are not binding on this court. [Citation.] We generally give more weight to the factual findings of the hearing [judge] since [he or she] has a better opportunity to observe the testimony of various witnesses. [Citation.] However, we must independently examine the evidence and determine its sufficiency in State Bar disciplinary matters. [Citation.]. . .” (In re Young (1989) 49 Cal.3d 257, 264-265 [261 Cal.Rptr. 59, 776 P.2d 1021].)
Our duty of independent review obliges us to draw our own inferences from undisputed facts, and to reach our own conclusions of law. If this process exposes flaws in the premises upon which the State Bar Court rested its disciplinary recommendation, the recommendation itself must be discounted accordingly.
Contrary to the hearing judge’s suggestion, the undisputed evidence shows that petitioner’s misconduct caused substantial harm to clients Hubbard, Fields, and Rhodes as a matter of law. As the hearing judge conceded, Ms. Hubbard’s arrest and temporary incarceration occurred at least in part because petitioner “wilfully” ignored her requests for guidance about fulfilling the plea bargain she had retained him to negotiate.* 2 In the Fields matter, petitioner’s inaction caused the plain loss of criminal appeal rights, a serious matter.3 Petitioner’s persistent failure to return unearned fees in the Rhodes matter forced the client to resort to legal remedies for collection. Indeed, petitioner steadfastly refused to honor the judgment obtained, even after the client contacted the State Bar.
*1270As the majority acknowledge, actual suspension is a traditional discipline for multiple acts of abandonment and failure to return fees, where harm to clients is involved. (See maj. opn., ante, at p. 1266, and cases there cited.) The State Bar’s sanctions for professional misconduct suggest disbarment for a pattern of abandonment, and that suspension is appropriate for individual instances of abandonment or failure to communicate with resulting harm. (See Transitional Rules Proc. of State Bar, div. V, Stds. for Atty. Sanctions for Prof. Misconduct, std. 2.4(a), (b).) In my view, petitioner’s delay in honoring the Rhodes judgment is an aggravating circumstance warranting enhanced discipline. (Id., std. 1.6(b)(i).)
I conclude that our duty to protect the public and the courts can only be fulfilled by requiring a period of actual suspension. I would order petitioner’s suspension from the practice of law for two years, and that he be actually suspended for sixty days as a condition of probation.
Lucas, C. J., concurred.

As to Bilson, the finding of failure to communicate seems amply supported, but Bilson’s declaration does not prove petitioner abandoned him, failed to return unearned fees, or provided incompetent service. As the hearing judge noted, there is no competent evidence that petitioner ignored Bilson’s instruction to withdraw and seek a continuance, or that petitioner culpably failed to prepare and present a competent defense in Bilson’s case. Bilson’s *1269voluntary absence at the time the trial was scheduled does not demonstrate petitioner’s misconduct.

The majority declares that the hearing judge “was unable to conclude that petitioner. . . had abandoned [Hubbard]” within the meaning of the Rules of Professional Conduct. (Maj. opn., ante, at p. 1266.) On the contrary, after some twisting and turning about the extent of petitioner’s “contractual” obligation, the hearing judge nonetheless found that petitioner’s failure “to properly advise . . . Hubbard as to how to enroll in the [sheriff’s work] program and ... to provide her with copies of the material papers despite multiple requests” clearly and convincingly established that petitioner “wilfully violated former Rule . . .2-111(A)(2) [of the Rules of Professional Conduct] by withdrawing from employment without taking reasonable steps to avoid foreseeable prejudice to the rights of his client.” Even if the hearing judge had failed to make this finding, however, we would not be precluded from doing so on the undisputed evidence.

 The hearing judge suggested that there was no evidence that the appeal would have been meritorious. He also speculated that appellant Fields might not have remained free on appellate bond as long as he did if petitioner had not engaged in tactics to slow down the appeal. This “no-prejudice” reasoning is flawed in two respects. First, when counsel’s delay results in the loss of his client’s right to appeal, the misconduct cannot be deemed harmless on grounds the appeal might not have succeeded. Second, it seems likely that appellant Fields would have remained free longer had the appeal been considered rather than prematurely dismissed.