Court Opinion

ID: 9768127
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 05:43:24.006432+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:30:36.802519
License: Public Domain

COVINGTON, Judge,
concurring in part and dissenting in part.
I concur in all respects with sections I through IV of the principal opinion. I respectfully dissent on the issue of discipline. Respondent acted dishonestly. This Court disciplines dishonest conduct by disbarment or suspension.
The American Bar Association’s Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions (1986) (ABA Standards), to which this Court has generally adhered in recent years, recommend suspension in a case in which “a lawyer knowingly deceives a client, and causes injury or potential injury to the client.” ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, Rule 4-62 (1986). The ABA Standards also recommend suspension when a lawyer knowingly violates a duty owed to the profession, as the respondent has done, and “causes injury or potential injury to a client, the public, or the legal system.” ABA Standards, Rule 7.2. A failure of integrity such as the one in this case requires, in my view, a severe sanction. See ABA Standards, Rule 1.1 (“The purpose of lawyer discipline proceedings is to protect the public and the administration of justice from lawyers who have not discharged ... their professional duties to clients, the public, the legal system, and the legal profession.”)
This Court’s own precedent suggests that disbarment may be appropriate. In In re Oberhellmann, 873 S.W.2d 851, 856 (Mo. banc 1994), this Court disbarred a lawyer from the practice of law, following ABA Standards, Rule 6.12, where the lawyer lied to a tribunal in an attempt to retain federal diversity jurisdiction by asserting that his client *238resided in a state in which the client did not reside. In In re Storment, 873 S.W.2d 227, 231 (Mo. banc 1994), this Court disbarred a lawyer for submitting false evidence to a court. This Court, in In re Maier, 664 S.W.2d 1, 2 (Mo. banc 1984), disbarred a lawyer for diverting money from his law firm and clients. Finally, this Court disbarred a lawyer for delrauding another attorney in In re Panek, 585 S.W.2d 477, 479 (Mo. banc 1979).
Any discipline less than suspension is clearly insufficient. In In re Disney, 922 S.W.2d 12, 16 (Mo. banc 1996), a lawyer lied to his client to secure a loan in an attempt to hide assets from his former wife, and this Court ordered his immediate suspension. In In re Strieker, 808 S.W.2d 356, 361 (Mo. banc 1991), this Court, rejecting the recommendation of the Master to" reprimand a lawyer, suspended the lawyer for misconduct that included dishonesty and deceit. In In re Littleton, 719 S.W.2d 772, 777 (Mo. banc 1986), this Court stated, “Reprimand ... is appropriate only where the attorney’s breach of discipline ... does not involve dishonest, fraudulent, or deceitful conduct on the part of the attorney.” In the present case, respondent lied to his partners and deceived his clients. Reprimand is unwarranted.
In accord with finding suspension to be the proper discipline is In re Smith, 315 Or. 260, 843 P.2d 449, 453 (1992), the case upon which the principal opinion heavily relies. In Smith, the Oregon Supreme Court suspended the respondent from the practice of law for a period of four months. The Smith case differs in almost no respect from the case presented here.
Applying the ABA Standards and considering the precedent cited, respondent should be suspended from the practice of law.
To determine an appropriate length of suspension, this Court considers the effect of mitigating and aggravating factors. In re Howard, 912 S.W.2d 61, 64 (Mo. banc 1995). The majority considers the fact that this Court has not previously had a written decision of law squarely addressing this matter. This, I respectfully submit, should not be considered in mitigation. The decision in this ease, that respondent’s conduct violates Rule 8.4(c), should come as no surprise to anyone. The majority opinion accurately and eloquently describes respondent’s misconduct and the manner in which it violates the Code of Professional Responsibility. Lawyers need neither the Code of Professional Responsibility nor this Court, however, to announce that we should refrain from conduct that is deceitful and dishonest. Nor do lawyers need disciplinary committees or courts to tell us that surreptitious handling of client files constitutes deceitful and dishonest conduct. This ease is not one to which any member of the bar would be looking for an interpretation of the Code of Professional Responsibility. There is no new law announced here, nor is there any legitimate dispute with respect to the facts. Finally, as set forth above, this Court’s precedent with respect to discipline of deceitful, dishonest conduct is long and well established. In summary, there are no surprises contained in the law or the facts relative to respondent’s misconduct.
I might give weight to the fact that respondent has practiced law for nearly twenty years without complaint, as does the majority, but for the fact that respondent’s substantial experience in the practice of law works as an aggravating, as well as mitigating, circumstance. See ABA Standards, Rule 9.22(i). The undisputed aggravating factor, however, is that the violation in this case was dishonest, selfish, willful, deliberate, and inexcusable. See ABA Standards, Rule 9.22(b). Although the length of respondent’s practice without complaint evidences the personal tragedy involved, it does not overcome the clear evidence in this case, nor does it mitigate the scheming, devious methods employed by respondent and the potential harm that is so aptly described in the principal opinion. See In re Mendell, 693 S.W.2d 76, 78 (Mo. banc 1985). The majority’s willingness to view respondent’s conduct with leniency is a view I would share, but only to distinguish between disbarment and suspension.
Honesty is, perhaps, the most essential quality for a lawyer. The purpose of disciplinary action is to protect the public, the legal system, and the profession. No sane*239tion lesser than suspension is consistent with the purpose for which our disciplinary actions exist. I would order respondent suspended from the practice of law for six months.