In Re Howell

89 A.2d 652, 10 N.J. 139, 1952 N.J. LEXIS 232

• Court: Supreme Court of New Jersey
• Decided: June 26, 1952
• Status: Published

Opinions

Per Curiam.

Respect for the law is the keystone of our democracy. An attorney by tradition is an appropriate advocate of this truism and it behooves him to act accordingly and to exercise the utmost restraint under all circumstances. This is the theme of the Canons of Professional Ethics, explicitly set forth in the preamble thereto. And Canon 39 provides, inter alia, that the lawyer “should strive at all times to uphold the honor and to maintain the dignity of the profession and to improve not only the law but the administration of justice”; in Canon 33 he is admonished “to observe the statute law” and advised that he “will find his highest honor in a deserved reputation for fidelity to public trust and to public duty.” It is axiomatic that it is extremely desirable that respectability of the bar should be maintained.

In the present case the respondent committed assault and battery and subsequently pleaded non vult thereto in criminal proceedings. An attorney’s responsibility is to the courts, the profession and the public, and his misconduct may be of such a nature as to engender disrespect for the law which is his basic trust. No criticism of his professional conduct has been otherwise made.

The respondent violated the Canons of Professional Ethics. In the circumstances of the case he should be suspended from the practice of the law for a period of sis months and until further order of this court.