Idaho State Bar v. Hawkley

92 P.3d 1069, 140 Idaho 322
CourtIdaho Supreme Court
DecidedOctober 30, 2002
DocketNo. 28045
StatusPublished

This text of 92 P.3d 1069 (Idaho State Bar v. Hawkley) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Idaho Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Idaho State Bar v. Hawkley, 92 P.3d 1069, 140 Idaho 322 (Idaho 2002).

Opinion

SCHROEDER, Justice.

NATURE OF THE CASE

Daniel L. Hawkley, a licensed Idaho attorney, appeals the findings and recommendations of the Professional Conduct Board of the Idaho State Bar which found that he knowingly filed two frivolous law suits in Idaho and recommended that his license to practice be suspended for three years.

I.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The lawsuits filed by Hawkley stem from his involvement in two long-running cases. The first was a bitter divorce action between Elizabeth and Lee Kornfield which commenced in 1991 and was continuously and contentiously litigated through 1995. In December of 1995 Elizabeth Kornfield retained Hawkley, claiming various participants in the divorce action had conspired against her. Hawkley filed a suit in federal district court on January 18, 1996, alleging a conspiracy to deprive Elizabeth Kornfield of her civil rights. The suit was brought in forma pauperis under 28 U.S.C. § 1915(d) and named as conspirators almost everybody who had been involved in the Kornfield divorce action, including Judge Dennard, the first magistrate judge in the case; Judge McLaughlin, who took over the case from Judge Dennard who had recused himself; Craig Beaver, a psychologist who evaluated the Kornfield children concerning Elizabeth Kornfield’s allegations that Lee Kornfield had sexually [324]*324abused some of their children; Stephen Beer, the court appointed attorney for the Kornfield children; James Bevis, the attorney for Lee Kornfield; Carol Cronin-Kriz, a counselor retained by Lee Kornfield for an independent evaluation of the children; Michael Estess, a psychiatrist who performed professional services in the case; Cumer Green, an attorney for Elizabeth Kornfield during part of the case; Robert Huntley, an attorney for Elizabeth Kornfield during part of the case; Cantril Nielsen, a psychiatrist who performed services in the' case; Stan Welsh, an attorney for Elizabeth Kornfield during part of the case; Lee Kornfield; and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. The complaint was not specific as to how the alleged conspiracy took place and in some instances made no allegations beyond naming the persons as defendants. The complaint asked that the federal court vacate all the orders entered in the state court divorce case in the previous three years.

Federal District Judge Lodge determined that the action could proceed without the payment of fees but dismissed the suit outright, characterizing the conspiracy claims as “baseless” and “fantastic”:

Plaintiffs claims herein are precisely the sort which falls [sic] withfin] the reach of § 1915(d). Plaintiff alleges the Defendants have entered into a conspiracy to .discriminate against her and to hide the alleged improprieties of Dr. Kornfield. She goes so far as to allege that two state magistrate judges, several attorneys, many doctors and psychologists conspired to deprive her of her constitutional rights. Plaintiffs claim of a conspiracy would have to be so wide-reaching that it would encompass over fifteen professionals from many different professional fields all in an effort to protect the reputation of Dr. Kornfield. This is not merely “unlikely,” it is clearly baseless. A finding of factual frivolousness is appropriate when the facts alleged rise to the level of irrational or the wholly incredible whether or not there are judicially noticeable facts available to contradict them. Denton v. Hernandez, 504 U.S. 25 at 33, 112 S.Ct. [1728] at 1733, 118 L.Ed.2d 340 [at 350 (1992)]. In addition, Plaintiff has made no detailed or concrete allegations of fact supporting such claim.
It is usual for a court in a pro se case to allow a plaintiff an opportunity to amend a complaint if it is possible to cure any deficiency in the complaint. However, in this ease Plaintiff is represented by counsel and the Court does not believe the deficiency in the complaint can be cured by amendment.
No credible showing of the existence of a conspiracy has been made by the plaintiff. Furthermore, the court finds that Plaintiffs claims are, at best, fanciful or fantastic. Therefore, Plaintiffs claims against all Defendants are dismissed as frivolous pursuant to 28 U.S.C § 1915(d).

Hawkley appealed the dismissal to the Ninth Circuit, which summarily affirmed the dismissal. None of the defendants was served. Most of the defendants discovered their involvement in the suit only after reading an article in the paper detailing the Ninth Circuit’s affirmation of the dismissal.

The other case that formed the basis for the proceedings against Hawkley was a long-running quiet title action, Peterson et al. v. Nielsen et al., which began in 1988 and ran through 1997. Nielsen hired Hawkley to represent him in 1997. On September 23, 1997, Hawkley filed an action in federal district court alleging a conspiracy to deprive Nielsen of his civil rights, naming as conspirators Randall Kline, the attorney for the plaintiffs; Judge Woodland, who presided in the case; and Grant Thornton, the trustee in a bankruptcy case relevant to the action. Hawkley later dismissed the complaint for reasons unclear in the record. During the quiet title action Hawkley served a request for production of documents on Kline and scheduled a meeting for April 27, 1998, at Kline’s office. Kline’s office informed Hawkley that Kline would not be available that date, but Hawkley arrived anyway. Hawkley allegedly told Kline’s secretary that Kline had given him permission to inspect the files in Kline’s absence and that the document production had been set for that day because Kline was going to be out of the office. The secretary refused to let Hawkley see any [325]*325files, and he left. Kline asserted these statements by Hawkley were false.

Pursuant to complaints by many of the named defendants in the conspiracy suits and by Kline as to Hawkley’s statements to his secretary, an investigation was commenced and charges subsequently filed by Bar Counsel. A hearing committee was appointed. Hawkley filed an answer, and a hearing on the allegations was held. The Bar Counsel called numerous witnesses who had been named in the lawsuits, including Judge Dennard, Judge McLaughlin, James Bevis, Cumer Green, Stephen Beer, David Goss, and Randall Kline. All denied being involved in a conspiracy or of knowing of any conspiracy.

Hawkley represented himself in the hearing and gave his testimony as a narrative. He was cross-examined by Bar Counsel. In defense of the conspiracy suits, Hawkley offered his legal theory of conspiracy, stating “if we agree to do something and it’s my understanding ... that if what we agree to do is going to cause you damage, that is a civil conspiracy.”

Concerning the Kornfield matter, Hawkley testified about a stipulation signed by Elizabeth Kornfield and her attorneys and signed by Lee Kornfield and his attorneys and approved by Judge McLaughlin in which Elizabeth Kornfield agreed not to make any more child abuse allegations against Lee Kornfield. Hawkley believed the approved stipulation was an agreement that violated Elizabeth Kornfield’s parental rights to raise her children, a fundamental right, and was therefore a conspiracy.

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Related

Denton v. Hernandez
504 U.S. 25 (Supreme Court, 1992)
Matter of Jenkins
816 P.2d 335 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1991)
Matter of Depew
560 P.2d 886 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1977)
In Re Bowen
508 P.2d 1240 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1973)
Matter of Jenkins
901 P.2d 1309 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1995)
Matter of Lutz
592 P.2d 1362 (Idaho Supreme Court, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
92 P.3d 1069, 140 Idaho 322, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/idaho-state-bar-v-hawkley-idaho-2002.