In re Ellis / Rosenbaum

CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 20, 2015
DocketS061385
StatusPublished

This text of In re Ellis / Rosenbaum (In re Ellis / Rosenbaum) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Ellis / Rosenbaum, (Or. 2015).

Opinion

No. 4 February 20, 2015 691 4 In re Ellis / Rosenbaum 356 February 20, Or 2015

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON

In re Complaint as to the Conduct of BARNES H. ELLIS, Accused. (OSB No. 09-54; SC S061385) In re Complaint as to the Conduct of LOIS O. ROSENBAUM, Accused. (OSB No. 09-55; SC S061385)

On review of the decision of the trial panel of the Disciplinary Board.* Argued and submitted March 4, 2014, at Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon. W. Michael Gillette, Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt PC, Portland, argued the cause and filed the briefs for the Accuseds. Mary A. Cooper, Assistant Disciplinary Counsel, Tigard, argued the cause and filed the brief for the Oregon State Bar. Before Balmer, Chief Justice, and Walters, Linder, Landau, Brewer, and Baldwin, Justices.** PER CURIAM The amended complaints are dismissed.

______________

** Trial Panel Opinion May 7, 2013.

** Kistler, J., did not participate in the consideration or decision of this case. 692 In re Ellis / Rosenbaum

The Oregon State Bar charged the accuseds with violating multiple provi- sions of the former Code of Professional Responsibility—arising from their repre- sentation of a public company and several company directors, officers, and man- agers in various proceedings over several years—including former DR 5-105(C) (waivable former-client conflicts with insufficient disclosure); former DR 5-105(E) (nonwaivable current-client conflicts and waivable current-client conflicts with insufficient disclosure); and former DR 1-102(A)(3) (misrepresentation by omis- sion). Held: (1) The Bar did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that, at the outset of an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the interests of the company and the individual clients were adverse under former DR 5-105(A)(2); the Bar therefore did not prove the existence of a current-client likely conflict of interest under former DR 5-105(E); (2) The record does not show that the clients’ interests were adverse during the SEC investigation, including during the Wells phase (in which the SEC notified several clients of its intent to pursue civil enforcement actions against them), and therefore did not prove a current-client likely conflict under former DR 5-105(E); (3) No actual conflict of interest existed between the company and the individual clients during the Wells phase under former DR 5-105(A)(1) and former DR 5-105(E); (4) Ellis’s sub- sequent representation of the company’s general counsel in a lawyer disciplinary matter did not involve the same or significantly related matter as the SEC pro- ceeding under former DR 5-105(C)(1), and, therefore, no former-client likely con- flict existed under former DR 5-105(C); (5) Assuming that, in a limited represen- tation of the company during a subsequent Department of Justice investigation, a likely conflict of interest existed between the company and former clients from the SEC representation, the accuseds sufficiently disclosed that conflict to their former clients, so as to obtain their consent to the limited representation; and (6) the Bar did not prove by clear and convincing evidence that the accuseds engaged in misrepresentation by omission under former DR 1-102(A)(3). The amended complaints are dismissed. Cite as 356 Or 691 (2015) 693

PER CURIAM This lawyer disciplinary proceeding involves sev- eral allegations under the former Code of Professional Responsibility.1 The accuseds (also individually referred to as Ellis or Rosenbaum in this opinion) represented a pub- lic company involved in various protracted proceedings over several years and also represented some company directors, officers, and managers during some of those same proceed- ings. The Bar charged the accuseds in separate complaints with multiple violations of several former Disciplinary Rules, including former DR 5-105(C) (waivable former-client conflicts with insufficient disclosure); former DR 5-105(E) (nonwaivable current-client conflicts and waivable current- client conflicts with insufficient disclosure); and former DR 1-102(A)(3) (misrepresentation by omission). A trial panel of the Disciplinary Board concluded that, although the Bar had not proved most of the charged violations, it did sufficiently prove that some client conflicts of interest had existed, that the accuseds had made insufficient disclosures as to those conflicts, and that the accuseds had made related misrep- resentations by omission in a particular conflict disclosure letter. The panel determined that a public reprimand was the appropriate sanction. The accuseds sought review as to all allegations that the panel determined that the Bar had proved, and the Bar sought review as to some additional allegations that the panel determined had not been proved. For the reasons explained below, we dismiss the amended complaints. I. FACTS We review the record de novo. Bar Rule of Procedure (BR) 10.6. The Bar must prove its allegations by clear and convincing evidence. BR 5.2. “Clear and convincing evi- dence” means that “the truth of the facts asserted is highly probable.” In re Phinney, 354 Or 329, 330, 311 P3d 517 (2013) (internal quotation marks omitted). We set out a general fac- tual summary below and discuss later in this opinion addi- tional facts that relate to particular issues on review. We 1 The Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct replaced the former Oregon Code of Professional Responsibility effective January 1, 2005. In re Balocca, 342 Or 279, 281 n 1, 151 P3d 154 (2007). 694 In re Ellis / Rosenbaum

draw all facts from the testimony and record before the trial panel, and from public court records in related proceedings.2 A. Company Background, Accounting Issues, and Class Action Litigation FLIR Systems, Inc. (FLIR) is a publicly traded Portland, Oregon, company that manufactures and sells thermal imaging equipment and broadcast camera systems, including to governmental entities. In early 2000, key FLIR directors, officers, and managers included Daltry (Board of Directors Chair), Wynne (board member), Stringer (President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO)), Samper (Chief Financial Officer (CFO)), Martin (Vice President of Sales (Worldwide)), Fitzhenry (General Counsel), and Eagleburger (Director of Sales Operations and Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing). As CFO, Samper was responsible for FLIR’s accounting and preparation of its financial statements. As the 1990s ended, FLIR’s corporate accounting grew more complicated, in part due to recent mergers and acquisitions, and installation of a new enterprise reporting system. In 1999, FLIR had difficulty completing its financial statements on time. At a February 2000 Board of Directors meeting, Samper reported that FLIR’s financial statements again would not be prepared on time. By that point, at least some board members began to doubt the competency of management, including Samper’s ability to serve as CFO. Samper resigned shortly thereafter. FLIR then discovered several accounting errors, including improperly claimed revenue in 1998 and 1999 for several transactions that appeared to be without suffi- cient foundation.3 As a result of that review, FLIR decided

2 We take judicial notice of additional facts drawn from judicial opinions and court dockets in a related criminal case prosecuted in the United States District Court, District of Oregon, and appealed to the Ninth Circuit. See In re Fitzhenry, 343 Or 86, 109 n 17, 162 P3d 260 (2007) (taking judicial notice of fact in public record). 3 In general, the accounting issues concerned FLIR’s “revenue recognition” practices—that is, the point in time at which FLIR could confirm with cer- tainty that it could include revenue derived from a particular transaction in its financial statements.

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In re Ellis / Rosenbaum, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-ellis-rosenbaum-or-2015.