Attorney Grievance Commission v. Young

124 A.3d 210, 445 Md. 93, 2015 Md. LEXIS 722
CourtCourt of Appeals of Maryland
DecidedOctober 20, 2015
Docket28ag/14
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 124 A.3d 210 (Attorney Grievance Commission v. Young) 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. Young, 124 A.3d 210, 445 Md. 93, 2015 Md. LEXIS 722 (Md. 2015).

Opinion

BARBERA, C.J.

Petitioner, the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland (“Commission”), through Bar Counsel, filed in this Court a Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action (“Petition”) on July 17, 2014, against Respondent, Matthew Richard Young. The Commission alleged that Respondent violated Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct (“MLRPC”) 8.1(a) and (b) (bar admission and disciplinary matters) and 8.4(a), (b), (c), and (d) (misconduct) by contracting to perform home improvement work without a valid license and by engaging in dishonest and deceitful conduct during investigations by the Maryland Home Improvement Commission (“MHIC”) and Bar *97 Counsel. Pursuant to Maryland Rules 16-752(a) and 16-757(c), this Court designated the Honorable Marcus Z. Shar (“the hearing judge”) to hear the matter and make findings of fact and conclusions of law.

The hearing judge conducted an evidentiary hearing on December 9, 2014, at which Respondent represented himself and testified on his own behalf. On January 26, 2015, the hearing judge issued written findings of fact and conclusions of law. Therein, the hearing judge concluded, based on clear and convincing evidence, that Respondent violated MLRPC' 8.1(a) and 8.4(a), (b), (c), and (d), but did not violate MLRPC 8.1(b). Neither Petitioner nor Respondent filed exceptions to the hearing judge’s findings of fact and conclusions of law.

For the reasons that follow, we agree with the hearing judge that Respondent violated MLRPC 8.1(a) and 8.4(a), (b), (c), and (d). We conclude, moreover, that the appropriate sanction for Respondent’s misconduct is disbarment.

I.

The hearing judge made the following findings of fact by clear and convincing evidence. Respondent was admitted to the Bar of the Court of Appeals of Maryland- on December 18, 2008. At the time, Respondent was employed by a construction management firm as a scheduler and construction manager but was laid off shortly thereafter. In February 2009, Respondent filed Articles of Organization with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (“SDAT”) to establish Carefree Construction Services, LLC (“the LLC”). Respondent testified that the purpose of the LLC was for construction management and scheduling. The hearing judge found, however, that Respondent had performed home improvement work through the LLC.

The hearing judge found that, from 2009 to 2013, Respondent contracted to perform home improvement work for thirty-two homeowners in the State of Maryland. For that work, Respondent received $152,426. Respondent argued that he used most of the money for expenses and that some of the *98 work did not require a home improvement license because it was commercial in nature. The hearing judge found, nevertheless, that Respondent, who had “vast experience in home improvement,” knowingly worked as an unlicensed home improvement contractor and earned a substantial amount of money as a result. 1

Respondent’s brother, Brian Young, is a contractor licensed by MHIC. Respondent testified that Brian gave Respondent permission to “use” Brian’s license to perform home improvement work. Brian testified that he and Respondent had one conversation about Respondent hypothetically working for him as a subcontractor on other projects; however, Brian never gave Respondent permission to enter into contracts under, or otherwise use, his license. The hearing judge, evidently believing Brian’s testimony, discredited Respondent’s testimony to the contrary.

In the summer of 2009, Respondent contracted through the LLC with Jake and Sunni McCarty to perform plumbing work at their home in Baltimore County, Maryland. For that work, the McCartys paid Respondent $2,605.66. The McCartys refused Respondent’s subsequent demands for additional pay *99 ment because they were not satisfied with the quality of his work. On June 5, 2012, Respondent filed suit against the McCartys in the District Court of Maryland, sitting in Baltimore County, seeking $984.17 in damages and $275 in attorney’s fees. On June 8, 2012, the following email exchange occurred:

[Mr. McCarty]: Got your nice surprise. Please bear in mind that you are not licensed. Penalties are very harsh.... I have called up the MHIC and checked on you not being licensed. You have until Tuesday to withdraw everything and write an apology, otherwise I will file a complaint that you were unlicensed acting as a contractor and trying to collect unfairly. So consider this your warning. You’ll have to decide if going for $1000 bucks after abandoning a job that you ostensibly, but illegally did, is worth a misdemeanor. The court will not look favorably on you as an attorney trying to collect when it was illegal for you to perform the work in the first place....
[Respondent]: Make sure you bring your checkbook, because I will be filing a lien on your house as soon as I get the judgement [sic] against you and your wife.
[Mr. McCarty]: Are you saying that you are going through? ... I will forward your information onto Mike Miller again, the MHIC investigator and policeman. I spoke with him last year about your harassment and he suggested that I just file a complaint and the state will prosecute you if you did not have a license and there was proof that you performed work. I decided not to at the time since ... it would adversely hurt you. You’re being irrational. Taking a huge risk with serious consequences since you violated BR.8-601 in Maryland.
[Respondent]: Are you forgetting, I AM A CONSTRUCTION ATTORNEY. There is nothing about construction law that you can learn on the internet that I am not an expert on. See you and Sunni in court.

*100 After a trial on August 17, 2012, the District Court entered judgment in favor of the McCartys. That court found, and the hearing judge agreed, that Respondent’s lawsuit was frivolous and filed in bad faith.

In November 2009, Respondent contracted through the LLC with Jerry and Catherine Woods to perform home improvement work. The Woodses paid Respondent $9,891.65 for that work but, because they were not satisfied with it, they refused Respondent’s requests for additional payment. The same day he filed suit against the McCartys, Respondent filed suit against the Woodses in the District Court of Maryland, sitting in Baltimore County, seeking $4,003.58 in damages and $275 in attorney’s fees. Respondent dismissed this suit voluntarily after judgment was entered in the McCartys’ favor in that litigation. The hearing judge found that the lawsuit against the Woodses likewise was frivolous and filed in bad faith.

After the McCartys and the Woodses submitted written complaints to MHIC, Kevin Niebuhr, an investigator with the Department of Labor, Licensing & Regulations (“DLLR”), investigated those complaints and testified before the hearing judge. When Mr. Niebuhr first contacted Respondent in 2012, Respondent told Mr. Niebuhr that he was a licensed contractor, and though he initially refused, eventually gave Mr. Niebuhr a license number. Upon investigation, Mr.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
124 A.3d 210, 445 Md. 93, 2015 Md. LEXIS 722, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/attorney-grievance-commission-v-young-md-2015.