Parker v. Jacobs

466 B.R. 542, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9031, 2012 WL 252185
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Alabama
DecidedJanuary 26, 2012
DocketNo. 2:11-CV-546-WKW
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 466 B.R. 542 (Parker v. Jacobs) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Parker v. Jacobs, 466 B.R. 542, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9031, 2012 WL 252185 (M.D. Ala. 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

W. KEITH WATKINS, Chief Judge.

Darryl A. Parker appeals the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama’s Order denying his motion to vacate, entered on June 2, 2011, and the Order entered on April 8, 2011, disbarring Mr. Parker from the practice of law in this district’s bankruptcy court. The appeal is brought pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(a) and Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 8001(b). Having considered the parties’ briefs, the relevant law and the record as designated, the court finds that the bankruptcy court’s orders are due to be affirmed.

I. JURISDICTION AND VENUE

Appellate jurisdiction of the district court to hear this appeal is exercised pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 158(a). Venue is proper because an appeal “shall be taken only to the district court for the judicial district in which the bankruptcy judge is serving.” § 158.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Decisions regarding the imposition of sanctions are reviewed for an abuse of discretion. In re Walker, 532 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir.2008). Applying this standard, a reviewing court “ ‘must affirm [545]*545unless [it] find[s] that the [lower] court has made a clear error of judgment, or has applied the wrong legal standard.’ ” Amlong & Amlong, P.A. v. Denny’s, Inc. 500 F.3d 1230, 1238 (11th Cir.2007) (quoting United States v. Frazier, 387 F.3d 1244, 1259 (11th Cir.2004) (en banc)). The reviewing court also “may affirm on any legal ground supported by the record.” In re Walker, 532 F.3d at 1308.

III. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Mr. Parker, the appellant, is an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Alabama, and represents debtors in Chapters 7 and 13 proceedings in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama. Teresa Jacobs, the appellee, is the bankruptcy administrator for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Alabama, whose duties include “seekfing] to prevent, through monitoring and reporting, abuses in the bankruptcy system.” U.S. Bankr.Admin., M.D. Ala., http://www. almba.uscourts.gov. (last visited on Jan. 26, 2012).

On February 17, 2011, Ms. Jacobs initiated a miscellaneous proceeding in the bankruptcy court for sanctions against Mr. Parker, alleging multiple violations of Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 9011(b)(3) and 11 U.S.C. § 526(a)(2). In re Darryl A. Parker, Misc. Case No. 11-301-WRS (Bankr.M.D.Ala. Feb. 17, 2011) (Doc. # 1-1) (henceforth “Mot. Sanctions”). The Orders from which Mr. Parker now appeals evolve from this miscellaneous proceeding.1

The misconduct for which Ms. Jacobs sought sanctions did not arise from a single case, but rather from multiple cases in which Mr. Parker was involved. Ms. Jacobs outlined a plethora of alleged § 9011(b)(3) and § 526(a)(2) infractions by Mr. Parker. She cited six Chapter 7 petitions filed by Mr. Parker where he had made false statements pertaining to the debtor’s county of residence. She also referenced twenty-eight cases in which Mr. Parker, as the debtors’ attorney, failed to pay timely the filing fee mandated by Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 1006 and 28 U.S.C. § 1930, and pointed out that, in many of those instances, the clients already had paid Mr. Parker the required fee.

As further support for the motion for sanctions, Ms. Jacobs highlighted Mr. Parker’s own pro se Chapter 7 proceeding, which she argued was replete with false statements and incomplete disclosures. Citing the Alabama Rules of Professional Conduct, Ms. Jacobs argued that Mr. Parker’s transgressions were “indicative of a lack of the requisite, diligence, knowledge and skill necessary for [Mr.] Parker to competently represent clients in bankruptcy.” (Mot. Sanctions 4 (citing Ala. Rules of Profl Conduct R. 1.1 & R. 1.3).) She sought “appropriate sanctions ... sufficient to deter repetition and continuation of such conduct.” (Mot. Sanctions 4.)

The bankruptcy judge scheduled a hearing on the motion for sanctions for April 7, 2011, and provided notice to Mr. Parker, electronically to two e-mail addresses that Mr. Parker had listed with the bankruptcy court and by first-class mail to his office address. Mr. Parker did not appear for the hearing or file a response to the motion for sanctions. He also failed to notify the bankruptcy judge prior to the hearing that he would be absent. Mr. Parker’s [546]*546failure to appear for the April 7, 2011 hearing was consistent with his past behavior: As noted by the bankruptcy judge, Mr. Parker was “frequently a no-show at hearings,” and, when Mr. Parker did attend, he was “habitually ... late and unprepared.” (H’rg Tr. 2, April 7, 2011 (Doc. # 10-1); Order 2, April 8, 2011 (Doc. # 1-2).)

At the April 7, 2011 hearing, at which Ms. Jacobs appeared through her counsel, the bankruptcy judge summarized Mr. Parker’s violations: Mr. Parker “willfully ... hold[s] off on paying filing fees”; he does not “observe ... normal courtroom decorum”; he has made a “series of material omissions” and falsehoods in cases; and in one case, in particular, he “covered up one set of lies with another set of lies, and then a third set of lies, all quite willful.” (H’rg Tr. 8, April 7, 2011.) The bankruptcy judge concluded: Mr. Parker is “not a good detail man,” but even worse, he is “a dishonest, unethical lawyer [who] harms his clients, and [who] files false pleadings and false statements in Bankruptcy Court.” (H’rg Tr. 11, April 7, 2011.) The bankruptcy judge orally pronounced the sanction: He would “disbar ... [Mr. Parker] from practicing in bankruptcy court from this point forward and remove him as counsel of record” on his pending cases. (H’rg Tr. 9, 14, April 7, 2011.)

The bankruptcy judge followed through in a written order entered the next day on April 8, 2011. He reiterated the “numerous instances” where Mr. Parker “knowingly fil[ed] false statements with the Court,” including in his own Chapter 7 petition, and “fail[ed] to timely pay filing fees.” (Order 4, April 8, 2011.) He found that, in his own Chapter 7 case, Mr. Parker went so far to avoid creditor detection that, in his petition, he transposed his first and middle names (“Avon D. Parker” instead of “Darryl A. Parker”) and listed his city of residence as Auburn, Alabama, when in fact he lived in Montgomery, Alabama. The bankruptcy judge also referenced a Chapter 7 petition filed by Mr. Parker on behalf of a debtor (“the Porter-field case”), where he “knowingly and intentionally filed false schedules ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
466 B.R. 542, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9031, 2012 WL 252185, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/parker-v-jacobs-almd-2012.