Attorney Grievance Commission v. Walker-Turner

812 A.2d 260, 372 Md. 85, 2002 Md. LEXIS 933
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedDecember 9, 2002
DocketNo. 52
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 812 A.2d 260 (Attorney Grievance Commission v. Walker-Turner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Attorney Grievance Commission v. Walker-Turner, 812 A.2d 260, 372 Md. 85, 2002 Md. LEXIS 933 (Md. 2002).

Opinion

HARRELL, Judge.

The Attorney Grievance Commission (Petitioner), acting through Bar Counsel, filed a petition "with this Court on 25 January 2002 for disciplinary action against John W. Walker-Turner, Sr., Respondent, alleging, among other things, a violation of Maryland Rule of Professional Conduct (“MRPC”) 5.5(a) (Unauthorized Practice of Law).1 We referred the [87]*87matter to Judge Julia B.Weatherly of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County to conduct an evidentiary hearing and make resultant findings of fact and proposed conclusions of law. Following that evidentiary hearing, Judge Weatherly concluded that Respondent violated Rule 5.5(a).

I.

Judge Weatherly, on 15 August 2002, entered the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law:

Petitioner, the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland, filed a Petition for Disciplinary Action charging the violation of Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.3, 1.4(a)(b), 1.15(a)(b), 1.16(d), and 5.5(a). However, at the hearing the Petitioner elected to go forward only on the violation of 5.5(a), (Unauthorized Practice of Law), dismissing the other allegations. The Court of Appeals of Maryland, in its Order of January 29, 2002, directed that this matter be heard pursuant to Maryland Rule 16-752(a), by this Court and determined in accordance with Maryland Rule 16-757. The Petition was duly served on the Respondent, who through counsel, filed an Answer to the Petition. Under Rule 16-757(b), the Petitioner, the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland, has the burden of proving the averments of the Petition by clear and convincing evidence. A Respondent who asserts an affirmative defense or a matter of mitigation or extenuation has the burden of proving the defense or matter by a preponderance of the evidence.
An investigation of this matter by the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland occurred based upon a complaint by Barbara Greenfield. She retained Respondent, John Wayne Walker-Turner, Sr., on April 10, 2001, regarding an employment dispute. The Complainant was employed by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections as a staff clerk and had been suspended for forty-five (45) days, a suspension she desired corrected when she consulted with the Respondent.
[88]*88The Petitioner’s case consisted of the introduction into evidence of Interrogatories propounded to the Respondent and his Answers, a series of Requests for Admissions of Facts and Genuineness of Documents and Respondent’s Answer, the deposition of the Respondent, the District of Columbia rule on the unauthorized practice of law, and the client file maintained by the Respondent in his representation of Ms. Greenfield. The Petitioner' also called Respondent as its witness.
The Court finds and concludes as follows:
Mr. John Wayne Walker-Turner, Sr. was admitted to the Bar of Maryland on December 16, 1999. Mr. Walker-Turner has never been admitted as a member of the bar of the District of Columbia. After he was admitted in Maryland, Mr. Jonathan Ai, Esquire of Rockville, Maryland provided him office space for approximately six months while he began his legal practice. Then he worked out of Mr. Henry Smith’s law office in the District of Columbia for six or seven months. While Mr. Smith did not pay him a salary, Mr. Walker-Turner in his deposition (Plaintiffs exhibit no. 3, page 8) stated Mr. Smith paid him on a case by case basis. He then shared an office with Mr. Rubin Collins, Esquire in the District of Columbia. Mr. Rubin Collins, Mr. William Johnson, and Mr. Walker-Turner operated as a partnership, the three attorneys dividing expenses. They periodically split fees if more than one attorney worked on a given case. Currently, Mr. Collins and Mr. Walker-Turner have an office at 605 Post Office Road, Waldorf, Maryland.
Mr. Walker-Turner testified that he has maintained the following addresses for the purpose of practicing law since his admission to the Maryland bar: 103 N. Adams Street, Rockville, Maryland; 714 G Street, S.E., Washington, DC; 1449 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., Washington; and Kennedy Street, N.W., Washington, DC. He also' did legal work out of his home on Illinois Avenue in the District of Columbia, however, he did not see clients there. Mr. Walker-Turner in his Answers to Interrogatories stated that all the num[89]*89bers he used for his office phones and fax numbers had a District of Columbia zip code.
On April 10, 2000, Mr. Walker-Turner signed an engagement fee to represent Ms. Greenfield. That engagement letter was entered into at Mr. Walker-Turner’s office at 714 G Street, S.E. Washington, DC. He thereafter sent two (2) letters on behalf of Ms. Greenfield to the Director of the Department of Corrections in the District of Columbia. His letterhead gave a District of Columbia address, 714 G Street, S.E., Washington, DC, as well as a Rockville, Maryland address. Those documents were admitted to be genuine, Exhibits 2, 3, and 4 attached to the Request for Admissions. The stationery notes MD after his name, and DC after Mr. Collins’ name, designating the jurisdiction in which they were licensed to practice law.
In Response to Bar Counsel’s Request, Mr. Walker-Turner responded to Bar Counsel on March 16, 2001. His letterhead gave an address at 1449 Pennsylvania Avenue, S.E., Washington, DC, listing an office telephone number and a fax number with District of Columbia area code 202. (Request for Admissions of Facts and Genuineness of Documents exhibit no. 1). In answer to Interrogatory 25 propounded by the Petitioner, Mr. Walker-Turner could not recall how many clients, if any, he may have seen in the District of Columbia during the period he was in association with an attorney licensed in the District of Columbia. But in his testimony in court, he indicated it had been several. He acknowledged that he practiced law in association with Mr. Collins and Mr. William Johnson, which held itself out as a partnership.
Mr. Walker-Turner testified that when he was retained, he informed Ms. Greenfield that he could not represent her in the District of Columbia courts if litigation was necessary. He would have to have an attorney licensed in the District of Columbia handle the matter. He testified that whenever he entered his appearance in the D.C. Superior Court, his appearance would be moved Pro Hac Vice by a licensed D.C. attorney. [90]*90Rule 49 (7)(iii) of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals provides that:
No person who maintains or operates from an office or location for the practice of law within the District of Columbia may be admitted to practice before the Court of the District of Columbia Pro Hac Vice unless that person qualifies under another expressed exception under section c thereof.
There are no exceptions that apply to the Respondent. It appears that Mr. Walker-Turner did not understand that because his office was located in the District of Columbia, he was not eligible to be moved in pro hac vice.
The evidence showed that the Respondent had met with clients, provided legal advice, wrote demand letters and engaged in negotiations on behalf of his clients operating from his office in the District of Columbia.

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Attorney Grievance Commission v. Walker-Turner
51 A.3d 553 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 2012)

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Bluebook (online)
812 A.2d 260, 372 Md. 85, 2002 Md. LEXIS 933, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/attorney-grievance-commission-v-walker-turner-md-2002.