Court Opinion

ID: 9714566
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 05:40:32.325438+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:23:27.126902
License: Public Domain

PAGE, Justice
(dissenting).
I respectfully dissent, for two reasons. First, I find the court’s penalty of disbarment disproportionately harsh when compared with the discipline imposed for comparable offenses in the past. Second, I conclude that the lesser penalty of suspension followed by supervised probation would satisfy the purposes of attorney discipline proceedings, as we have articulated them.
The court begins with the premise that the presumptive discipline to be imposed, based on Andrade’s felony conviction, is disbarment, and that lesser discipline is to be imposed only when there exist “substantial mitigating circumstances.” It is true that we have made such blanket statements in the past. See, e.g., In re Pugh, 710 N.W.2d 285, 288 (Minn.2006) (quoting In re Anderley, 481 N.W.2d 366, 369 (Minn.1992)).
*608But our jurisprudence has been less rigid. In any number of cases over the past half century, we have imposed discipline short of disbarment for felony convictions, often without any mention whatsoever of mitigating circumstances. We have done so both by accepting the parties’ stipulation to such discipline, and over the objections of the Director. See, e.g., In re Lahlum, 719 N.W.2d 707 (Minn.2006) (imposing by order after stipulation an indefinite suspension for a minimum of 18 months for felony theft with no mention of mitigating circumstances); In re Post, 686 N.W.2d 529 (Minn.2004) (imposing by order after stipulation a six-month stayed suspension and five years’ unsupervised probation for felony DWI with no mention of mitigating circumstances); In re Barta, 461 N.W.2d 382 (Minn.1990) (rejecting Director’s request for disbarment and suspending attorney convicted of tax fraud and evasion, citing as mitigating factors only the attorney’s lack of both client complaints and prior disciplinary actions, three terms as county attorney, and some pro bono service in the form of fee waivers for poorer clients); In re Serstock, 432 N.W.2d 179 (Minn.1988) (suspending attorney indefinitely but for no less than two years for dismissing traffic tickets while a deputy city attorney for friends who had loaned him money and given him other favors and for failing to file income tax returns); In re Kimmel, 322 N.W.2d 224 (Minn.1982) (rejecting Director’s request for disbarment and suspending attorney convicted of felony criminal sexual conduct); In re Scholle, 274 N.W.2d 112 (Minn.1978) (imposing by order after stipulation, along with other conditions, a two-year suspension following attorney’s conviction of conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine with no mention of mitigating circumstances); In re Scallen, 269 N.W.2d 834 (Minn.1978) (rejecting referee’s recommendation of disbarment and imposing an indefinite suspension of no less than five years on an attorney convicted of securities fraud and felony theft of $3 million); In re Swagler, 239 Minn. 566, 58 N.W.2d 272 (1953) (suspending for six months an attorney convicted of criminal negligence in which a person died).1 To highlight just one example, in In re Singer, 630 N.W.2d 404 (Minn.2001), we accepted without comment the stipulation of the Director and the lawyer to a suspension for a minimum of three years, despite the fact that the lawyer had been convicted in state court of felony theft for misappropriating funds from his attorney trust account.
Our rationale, when we have offered one, for not disbarring the convicted attorney has varied. For example, in Barta, faced with not only a felony conviction but six years of trust account violations and misappropriation of client funds in two matters, we managed to find mitigation in the facts that respondent had not previously been disciplined, that respondent had served three terms as county attorney, that respondent had “from time to time” waived fees for clients, and that an investigation turned up no additional client complaints. 461 N.W.2d at 385. In Swagler, we noted that the respondent’s record “was practically unblemished” before his conviction, and we predicted “it is very doubtful that any occasion for disciplinary action of this lawyer will arise in the future.” 239 Minn, at 567, 58 N.W.2d at 272. *609In Serstock, the ease of the city attorney who “fixed” a myriad of traffic tickets for friends and creditors, our rationale for suspension appears to be only that the attorney’s misconduct “harmed no one person individually,” even as we acknowledged that the harm “was to the public and the legal system as a whole.” 432 N.W.2d at 185. In Scallen, our rationale for not disbarring an attorney convicted of securities fraud and felony theft appears to have been related to “the caliber and standing in the legal community of the witnesses who came forth to testify” on Scallen’s behalf. 269 N.W.2d at 841.
Andrade’s circumstances are not qualitatively different. For example, there is no dispute that, like Barta, Andrade has served a segment of the population generally underrepresented in legal matters and has performed significant amounts of pro bono legal work. Nor is there any dispute that, like Swagler, Andrade has not previously been disciplined, and that his present difficulties are an aberration in an otherwise exemplary life and career. Andrade has acknowledged his guilt and has cooperated in these proceedings. As in Scallen, the witnesses on Andrade’s behalf — including two sitting judges in Ramsey County— were both unanimous in their support for him and above question in their qualifications. Further, while Andrade’s misconduct, like the misconduct in Serstock, did harm “to the public and the legal system as a whole,” the misconduct “harmed no one person individually.”
And so my analysis of the case starts not from the presumption of disbarment, but with an analysis of what sanction best serves the purposes of attorney discipline, as we have expressed them. As the court states, the primary purpose of disciplinary action is “to guard the administration of justice and to protect the courts, the legal profession, and the public.” In re Hanson, 258 Minn. 231, 233, 103 N.W.2d 863, 864 (1960). I conclude that suspension for a significant period of time, followed by supervised probation, would serve those purposes.
First, I place significant weight in this case on the recommendation of the referee we appointed to make findings of fact and recommendations for disposition. The referee, who listened to Andrade and the other witnesses testify and who is in the unique position to evaluate their credibility, concluded that, in light of “significant mitigating factors,” a suspension would “still serve to protect the public and deter lawyers who may otherwise be tempted to engage in illegal acts.” Because so much of our judgment in this case must rest on an evaluation of respondent’s character, I would heed the conclusion of the referee.
Second, a lengthy suspension — from 24 to 36 months — would express our strong disapproval of Andrade’s conduct.2 Considering the financial consequences of such a suspension to Andrade and his family, as well as the personal and professional stigma associated with attorney discipline, no one could reasonably conclude that a suspension of 24 to 36 months constitutes leniency on our part.
*610Third, under Rule 18, Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility, a suspension of such length would require that Andrade petition for reinstatement and present evidence of his fitness to resume practice to a fact-finding panel. Only if Andrade presents clear and convincing evidence that he has undergone a moral change and gained sufficient insight into his misconduct so that the misconduct is not likely to recur would Andrade be reinstated to practice. See In re Swanson, 343 N.W.2d 662, 664 (Minn.1984). Thus, the hearing process under Rule 18 affords further protection to the courts, the legal profession, and the public that Andrade will be permitted to resume the active practice of law only after demonstrating his “present ability to adhere to the strict code of professional morality.” In re Peterson, 274 N.W.2d 922, 926 (Minn.1979).
Finally, in my view, reinstatement subject to supervised probation provides further assurance to the public. The court rejects supervised probation with the observation that such probation is “unlikely to detect” the type of misconduct of which Andrade has been convicted. Yet the court allowed Andrade to practice under such supervision while these proceedings were pending. I believe that, upon reinstatement, the court can craft a probation that is reasonably likely to both deter such misconduct in the future and to detect it should it occur. For example, Andrade could be required to provide notice of his supervision to clients and to provide them with the name and contact information of his supervisor. Such information would give clients a ready means of notifying a person of authority of any improper solicitations by Andrade in the future.
For these reasons, I respectfully dissent.
ANDERSON, PAUL H., Justice (dissenting).
I join in the dissent of Justice Page.

. Serstock was indicted by a grand jury on three counts of misconduct in office, but the indictment was dismissed on grounds that the facts alleged in the indictment did not constitute an offense and that the language of the indictment was not sufficiently specific. State v. Serstock, 402 N.W.2d 514, 515 (Minn.1987). We affirmed the dismissal of the indictment, noting that "the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board is free to determine whether respondent’s alleged activities may warrant any disciplinary action." Id. at 520 n. 6.

. At bottom, Justice Anderson and I disagree only on the length of Andrade's suspension. To Justice Anderson, Andrade’s impugnment of an unnamed (and apparently nonexistent) high-ranking person in the Minneapolis Police Department is particularly reprehensible— reprehensible enough to merit a suspension of at least 48 months, as opposed to my proposed 24 to 36 months. If "[t]he quality of mercy is not [to be] strain’d,” William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice act 4, sc. 1, and if Andrade is ever to rebuild his practice, I think something less than 48 months is required. Cf. State v. Streiff, 673 N.W.2d 831, 841-42 (Minn.2004) (Anderson, Paul H., J., concurring).