In Re Estep

933 A.2d 763, 40 A.L.R. 6th 815, 2007 Del. LEXIS 360, 2007 WL 2323505
CourtSupreme Court of Delaware
DecidedAugust 15, 2007
Docket647, 2006
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 933 A.2d 763 (In Re Estep) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Estep, 933 A.2d 763, 40 A.L.R. 6th 815, 2007 Del. LEXIS 360, 2007 WL 2323505 (Del. 2007).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

The Respondent, Ralph V. Estep, is a public accountant with an office in Wilmington, Delaware. The Respondent is not authorized to practice law in Delaware or any other jurisdiction. On October 30, 2006, this Court issued an order directing that the Respondent cease and desist the unauthorized practice of law (“Cease and Desist Order”).

On December 11, 2006, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (“ODC”) filed a Petition for a Rule to Show Cause in this Court, alleging that the Respondent was in violation of the Cease and Desist Order. 1 On February 21, 2007, we referred this matter to the Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law (“Board”) to make findings of fact and recommendations concerning the contemptuous conduct alleged in ODC’s petition. 2 On April 10, 2007, the Board conducted an evidentiary hearing during which it heard testimony from various witnesses and accepted documentary evidence.

On May 25, 2007, the Board filed its Findings of Fact and Recommendations for Sanctions. The Board found in the Respondent’s favor on Counts I and XI of the Amended Petition. Regarding the remaining nine counts in the Amended Petition, the Board found that the Respondent’s conduct was contemptuous and a “blatant attempt” to avoid this Court’s Cease and Desist Order. The Board recommends that the Respondent disgorge all fees associated with his contemptuous activities.

Both the Respondent and ODC have filed objections to the Board’s factual findings and recommendations. This Court has concluded that all of the objections to the Board’s factual findings are without *765 merit. This Court has carefully considered the Board’s non-binding recommendations on the issue of sanctions. We have concluded that the appropriate sanctions are disgorgement of fees earned by the Respondent after the entry of the Cease and Desist Order and a $2000 fine for each of the nine counts of the Amended Petition found to have constituted a contempt of the Cease and Desist Order.

CEASE AND DESIST ORDER RESPONDENT’S VOLUNTARY COMPLIANCE

On January 25, 2006, the ODC filed a petition with the Board alleging that the Respondent was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. Specifically, ODC alleged the Respondent was: (1) acting in a representative capacity in a Delaware legal tribunal or governmental agency; (b) giving legal advice on matters relating to Delaware law; (c) drafting legal documents; and (d) holding himself out as authorized to practice law in Delaware. Board Rule 14 provides that “any time after a matter is initially docketed by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, the respondent may voluntarily offer an assurance that the respondent shall not engage in the unauthorized practice of law in the State of Delaware.” 3 On June 6, 2006, ODC and the Respondent appeared before the Board and jointly submitted a written settlement agreement captioned “Admitted Facts and Admissions of Conduct Constituting the Unauthorized Practice of Law” (“Admissions”).

In the Admissions, the Respondent agreed that the “drafting of wills and trusts by a non-lawyer who is not authorized to practice law by the Delaware Supreme Court constitutes the unauthorized practice of law ...” The Respondent further agreed that “acting in a representative capacity in the Register of Wills, giving legal advice on matters relating to Delaware estate law, and drafting legal documents for use in the Register of Wills by a non-lawyer each constitutes the unauthorized practice of law ...” The Respondent agreed that he would “not draft wills and trusts, act in a representative capacity in the Register of Wills, give legal advice on matters relating to Delaware estate law, or draft legal documents for use in the Register of Wills and he would not advertise legal services related to “wills,’ ‘trusts,’ ‘estate,’ ‘probate,’ ‘estate administration,’ and ‘estate and probate services’ as services provided by his firm in any manner including print ads, yellow pages, billboards, on his letterhead, or elsewhere.”

On July 31, 2006, the Board submitted its acceptance of the Respondent’s Admissions, voluntary assurances and also submitted a proposed consent decree to this Court. We approved the Respondent’s voluntary compliance agreement and entered the Cease and Desist Order as a consent degree. Following the entry of this Court’s Cease and Desist Order, the Court of Chancery appointed Peter S. Gordon, Esquire, as receiver of the Respondent’s unauthorized law practice. 4

EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY AND JURISDICTION

This Court has exclusive authority and jurisdiction over matters involving the legal profession and the practice of law in *766 the State of Delaware. 5 Pursuant to that authority, this Court established the Board on the Unauthorized Practice of Law. 6 This Court designated the ODC to evaluate, investigate and prosecute all matters relating to the unauthorized practice of law. 7

ENFORCEMENT PROCEEDINGS

The Rules of the Board delineate the structure and procedures for a comprehensive regulatory system intended to protect the public from occurrences of the unauthorized practice of law in the State of Delaware. Board Rule 14 provides that this Court’s entry of an order approving the Respondent’s voluntary assurance agreement shall be enforceable through contempt proceedings. Board Rule 19 authorizes the ODC to investigate any alleged violations of this Court’s orders and to petition this Court for a rule to show cause why the Respondent should not be held in contempt. In accordance with Board Rule 19, we directed the Board to conduct an evidentiary hearing with respect to the Amended Petition filed by ODC and to submit a report with its factual findings and recommendations.

UNAUTHORIZED LAW PRACTICE

The unauthorized practice of law is prohibited so that members of the public will receive legal representation only from a person who has demonstrated his or her competence to practice law by passing the bar examination, 8 as well as the character and fitness examination, 9 and who is subject to the Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Responsibility. As this Court explained fifty years ago:

The profession thus established arose out of a public necessity for the exclusion from the practice of law of unqualified persons. The attorney thus became an officer of the court and an important adjunct to the administration of justice. The profession from the very start was affected with a public interest and was created for the protection of the public.
Originally, anyone could practice law, but for the protection of the public it was found necessary to circumscribe that right. The advance of civilization and its material things has done nothing to change that fundamental fact.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
933 A.2d 763, 40 A.L.R. 6th 815, 2007 Del. LEXIS 360, 2007 WL 2323505, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-estep-del-2007.