STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. OLIVER

2016 OK 37, 369 P.3d 1074, 2016 Okla. LEXIS 37, 2016 WL 1229821
CourtSupreme Court of Oklahoma
DecidedMarch 29, 2016
DocketSCBD 6268
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 2016 OK 37 (STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. OLIVER) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Oklahoma primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. OLIVER, 2016 OK 37, 369 P.3d 1074, 2016 Okla. LEXIS 37, 2016 WL 1229821 (Okla. 2016).

Opinions

WINCHESTER, J.

11 James Edward Oliver, the respondent, was admitted to the Oklahoma Bar Association and has been practicing law in this state since 1967. He has practiced before the bankruptey courts for twenty-eight to thirty years, He is admitted in the Eastern, Western, and Northern districts of the federal court, and the U.S. Tax Court, Mr. Oliver has not had any prévious complamts or disciplinary actions,

T2 The complaint against Mr. Oliver involves a reciprocal discipline matter initiated pursuant to Rule 7, of the Rules Governing Disciplinary Proceedings. Rule 7.7(a) of those rules provides that "It is the duty of a lawyer licensed in Oklahoma to notify the General Counsel whenever discipline for lawyer misconduct has been imposed upon him/ her in another jurisdiction, within twenty (20) days of the final order of discipline, and failure to report shall itself be grounds for discipline." 1 Mr. Oliver failed to report his suspension from practicing before United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. On May 12, 2015, this Court issued an order to Mr. Oliver allowing him to show cause in writing why a final order of discipline should not be imposed, or to request a hearing. He answered requesting a hearing, which this Court granted.

3 Pursuant to Rule.7.7(b) this Court permitted Mr. Oliver,. to submit a certified copy of the transcript of the evidence taken by the Bankruptey- Court.. That rule also provides that the documents of the adjudication by the federal court constitute the charge and those documents are prima facie evidence the lawyer committed the acts described therein. [1075]*1075However, the transcript of the hearing may be used to support a claim that the evidence found by the other jurisdiction, in this case the bankruptey court, did not furnish sufficient grounds for discipline in' Oklahoma. The respondent is also allowed by Rule 7(b) to present evidence and argument tending to mitigate the severity of discipline imposed by this Court.

4 During the heamng before a trial panel of the Oklahoma Bar Association's Profes-gional Responsibility Tribunal, the complainant entered as exhibits 'the bankruptcy court's transcript of proceedings, and the documentation of the orders issued by that court. Judge Sarah A. Hall, who serves in the Western District of Oklahoma, suspended Mr. Oliver from practice in that court for a period of at least 30 days on October 29, 2014, and reinstated him on 'December 1, 2014. That judge suspended him again on January 14, 2015, for a period of at least 60 days. On June 15, 2015, that court permanently suspended him from practicing in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Those documents were included in the complamant’ exhibits,

T5 During the hearing before the trial panel, Mr. Oliver acknowledged that his problems with the bankruptey court were caused by his lack of expertise in computer skills and his frustration in trying to meet the federal court's expectations with electronic pleading requirements. No testimony nor any documents showed an insufficiency in Mr. Oliver's knowledge of substantive bankruptey law. The trial tribunal reported that his problem was technological proficiency. This, in itself, does not disqualify him from practicing law in the courts of Oklahoma,

16 In the show cause hearing before the federal court on May 6, 2015, Judge Hall informed him of the errors that he made in filing nine "homework" documents that she had assigned to him. Mr. Oliver began by answering the judge's invitation to tell her why he should not permanently be suspended from practicing in that court,. He replied he had an attorney friend who would be willing to assist him with all of the filings for the next few weeks, When questioned by the court 'he named a specific attorney. The judge was not familiar with that attorney and told him he needed an attorney who knew bankruptcy exeeptionally well. She told him he had thirty days to "have a' lawyer on board," 'and one who was well-versed in the local rules and guidelines. She wanted that lawyer to file something telling the court that the attorney agreed to assist Mr, Oliver. The judge instructed him to resubmit the homework without any errors, neither rules errors nor even any typographical errors. Again she told him that he would have to submit something from an attorney who confirms the attorney was well-qualified and had agreed to assist Mr, Oliver in his bankruptcy fihngs

T7 In the bankruptcy court's order of May 7, 2015, the judge memorialized her instructions from the show cause hearing. In her instructions he was required to refile the nine documents he previously presented, which had to be "error free." She ended that paragraph with the sentence, "In doing so, Oliver may not seek or obtain assistance from this Court's law clerk, the staff of the Court Clerk's office or any other person." The next paragraph requires him to file a document certified under oath from a bank-ruptey attorney agreeing to associate with Mr. Oliver and assist him in the preparation and filing of "documents with this Court" and that he or she was well versed in the Local Rules and Guidelines of the court and the Federal Rules of Bankruptey Procedure."

1 8 In the June 15, 2015, order permanent ly suspending Mr, Oliver from the practice of law, the court accused and concluded that Mr. Oliver disobeyed the order, of the court by contacting a bankruptey lawyer admitted in that court and paying him "$1,000.00 to provide the nine (9) documents" the court required. However, that attorney had called and talked to the judge's law clerk with Mr. Oliver's permission to find out what he was permitted to do to aid Mr. Oliver, The attorney testified before the trial panel that he told the clerk that Mr. Oliver did not hire him to ghost-write the assignment, and that Mr. Oliver had worked pretty hard on the assignment on his own, The attorney testi[1076]*1076fied he told the clerk that "I had worked on reviewing some forms that Ed had done, and most of them looked pretty good and they could use some tucking in in a few areas." He further testified that Mr. Oliver had talked to him "regularly" about needing a short letter about the attorney's knowledge of bankruptcy law and that he was willing to work with Mr. Oliver. He had not talked to the judge, but only to her clerk, and there was no hearing subsequently before the judge, The only testimony given under oath is that which was held before the trial panel of the Professional Responsibility Tribunal. Accordingly, we find by clear and convincing evidence that the Bar Association did not prove that Mr. Oliver's intent was to have another bankruptcy attorney do his "homework" for him. We can easily conclude that within the context of the bankruptey court's order, Mr. Oliver was required to obtain the aid of a competent bankruptey attorney, and he did that. He even specifically permitted that attorney to talk to the judge's clerk to find out what he was supposed to do to help Mr. Oliver.

T9 At the hearing before the trial panel, the bankruptey attorney's testimony, subject to eross-examination, explained that Mr. Oliver wanted him to check over the nine documents that Mr. Oliver had already completed, and that the money was for the attorney to continue to help Mr. Oliver in his bank-ruptey practice. The attorney submitted a document memorializing their agreement with part of the $1,000 to be credited to future months, and the amounts of future payment. An arranged per-month payment followed.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. OLIVER
2018 OK 95 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2018)
STATE ex rel. OKLAHOMA BAR ASSOCIATION v. HYDE
2017 OK 59 (Supreme Court of Oklahoma, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2016 OK 37, 369 P.3d 1074, 2016 Okla. LEXIS 37, 2016 WL 1229821, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-ex-rel-oklahoma-bar-association-v-oliver-okla-2016.