The Perfect Storm Blows On

A decision of the Maryland Court of Appeals gives the reader insight into the often arcane world of reciprocal discipline.

The case involves an attorney admitted in both Maryland and the District of Columbia. He  was suspended in D.C. as a result of his claim that he suffered from a mental illness that made him unable to defend bar charges.

As a result, D.C. imposed what is called a “disability” suspension based on the claim that depression impaired his ability to defend the pending disciplinary charges.

The charges were thus held in abeyance.

Maryland does not have such a procedure.

The court thus placed the attorney on inactive status as “the most appropriate analogous response” to the D.C. suspension.

The court noted that the attorney had claimed in Maryland that the depression was the result of “a perfect storm of emotional issues in which he was ensnared” and that his counsel had argued that “the perfect storm has passed now and, thus, the reason for suspension no longer exists.”

The attorney sought a hearing in Maryland on whether reciprocal discipline would result in a “grave injustice.”

The court concluded that the attorney’s effort to continue to practice in Maryland despite the disability concession in D.C.

would convert Maryland  into an asylum for attorney’s wishing to flee from pending disciplinary matters in other jurisdictions….[n]either financial difficulties to Respondent due to his inability to practice law while on inactive status nor ‘forum-shopping’ for the quickest reinstatement creates a ‘grave injustice’ warranting a finding that reciprocal discipline is inappropriate…

The court found the nearest comparable sanction to impose and determined that it would contravene the spirit of reciprocity to give the attorney a Maryland license in light of his D.C. status. (Mike Frisch)