In Re Joyner

670 A.2d 1367, 1996 D.C. App. LEXIS 20, 1996 WL 75773
CourtDistrict of Columbia Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 22, 1996
Docket95-BG-906
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 670 A.2d 1367 (In Re Joyner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District of Columbia Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Joyner, 670 A.2d 1367, 1996 D.C. App. LEXIS 20, 1996 WL 75773 (D.C. 1996).

Opinion

REID, Associate Judge:

The Board on Professional Responsibility has recommended that Respondent James E. Joyner be suspended for thirty days and complete a continuing legal education course on legal ethics. Two members of the Board dissented from the Board’s report. Mr. Joyner was charged with violating DR 6-101 by neglecting a legal matter entrusted to him, and DR 7-101 by intentionally failing to seek the lawful objectives of his client, intentionally failing to carry out a contract of employment with the client, and intentionally prejudicing or damaging his client. Mr. Joyner takes exception to the Board’s recommendation, and argues that the thirty day suspension should be stayed and that he should be: (1) placed on probation for one year; (2) required to submit to the supervision of a practice monitor and a financial advisor; and (3) be required to complete a Continuing Legal Education course on professional responsibility.

FACTUAL SUMMARY

After serving in the Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s office, respondent entered into the private practice of law. He has a history of prior discipline in the form of two informal admonitions in 1984 and 1985 for neglect of client matters, failure to appear at two pre-hearing conferences on a client matter, and failure to return documents provided by a client. On August 18, 1988, he was retained by Ms. Antoinette Sebastian on a contingent fee arrangement. Ms. Sebastian alleged that she was sexually assaulted by a District of Columbia ambulance attendant while being transported to the hospital after an automobile accident on June 2, 1988. Although respondent notified the District of Columbia of her intent to sue, and obtained her medical record from D.C. General Hospital, respondent did virtually no other work on the case, and further failed to communicate with his client despite her efforts to obtain progress reports regarding her ease. Respondent missed the one year statutory deadline for filing a complaint against the District of Columbia. He stated that his secretary erroneously classified the client’s case as one involving a three year statute of limitations period. Respondent called the client, informed her that he had missed the filing deadline, and advised the client that she might want to retain other counsel to pursue a negligence claim against the District of Columbia. The client retained other counsel as advised, but the negligence claim was unsuccessful. In addition, the client sued respondent for malpractice. Although a $25,000 judgment was entered against him, respondent had no malpractice insurance, and made no effort to satisfy the judgment.

After disciplinary charges had been filed against respondent for violation of DR 6-101 and DR 7-101, the Board concluded that there was clear and convincing evidence of respondent’s violation of DR 6-101, and recommended a thirty day suspension and enrollment in a legal ethics course. The Board declined to accept respondent’s requested sanction because: (1) there were “no known limits on his ability to correct manageable deficiencies in his practice organization”; and (2) respondent failed “to pay so much as a dollar of the [malpractice] judgment [against him], or to offer any payment plan.”

ANALYSIS

Respondent argues that: (1) “Cooperation with a financial monitor is a permissible condition of probation”; and (2) “[t]he probationary plan ... is the most appropriate disciplinary remedy.” Our standard of review is governed by D.C.Bar R. XI § (9)(g)(l). 1 Respondent contests only the Board’s recommended discipline, not its conclusion that he has violated DR 6-101. Hence, this court must adopt the Board’s *1369 recommendation as to discipline ‘“unless to do so would foster a tendency toward inconsistent dispositions for comparable conduct or would otherwise be unwarranted.’ ” In re Steele, 630 A.2d 196, 199 (D.C.1993) (quoting D.C.Bar R. XI, § 9(g) (other citations omitted)). Our review is limited to determining whether the Board has abused its discretion or whether the exercise of its judgment in imposing punishment is unreasonable. See In re Hutchinson, 634 A.2d 919, 924 (D.C.1987) (en banc), relying on In re Haupt, 422 A.2d 768, 771 (D.C.1980).

The Board’s discussion of the appropriate sanction in this case is cogent. It takes into consideration respondent’s prior disciplinary history, existing precedent, and respondent’s arguments for monitored probation. Since respondent already had received two prior informal admonitions for neglect of client matters, it was reasonable for the Board to conclude that discipline was warranted. Moreover, the Board carefully examined two lines of cases which imposed discipline (favored by the Board) or monitored probation (advocated by respondent). In In re Banks, 577 A.2d 316, 318 (D.C.1990), this court adopted the Board’s recommendation of a thirty day suspension where: “The Board noted that respondent had three prior disciplinary violations, including a public censure ... [because] a suspension would impress upon him the severity of his neglect and the importance of reform of his office practices.” See also In re Foster, 581 A.2d 389 (D.C.1990) (per curiam).

After extensive analysis, the Board declined to follow the monitored probation approach recommended by the Board and affirmed by this court in In re Stow, 633 A.2d 782 (D.C.1993). Respondent’s case is not the same as Stow. First, the Board recommended probation and Stow raised no objection. We owed considerable deference to the Board’s recommendation. In re Hutchinson, 534 A.2d at 924. The fact that we approved the Board’s recommendation of probation in Stow, does not mean that we are obligated to second-guess the Board and to impose probation in respondent’s case. Second, the factual situation in Stow was different. In Stow, respondent’s thirty day suspension was stayed on condition that he complete one year of probation under a practice monitor. Stow handled two hundred cases a year and had “an aversion to paperwork, [which] created a high risk that he [would] be back before the disciplinary system on a future neglect case.” 633 A.2d at 785. The Board did not find respondent’s situation analogous to that discussed in Stow. The Board considered “[s]ome of the deficiencies in [respondent's practice ... [to be] easy to fix,” but noted that he “has not given the Board comfort that he has done even the simplest of ... tasks.” Nor had he taken any step “to explain how he will pay Ms. Sebastian the damages he owes her due to the malpractice judgment.”

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Bluebook (online)
670 A.2d 1367, 1996 D.C. App. LEXIS 20, 1996 WL 75773, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-joyner-dc-1996.