Disbarred After Missing Oral Argument Before Court

The Maryland Court of Appeals has disbarred an attorney for misconduct in the course of representing a client in a child custody disputes and during the resulting bar investigation.

We conclude that the appropriate sanction for Barnett’s misconduct is disbarment. Barnett forged [client] Wooden’s signature on an Affidavit of Indigency without consulting her or obtaining her consent, and then submitted the false document to the circuit court. Barnett failed to notify Wooden of the Exceptions hearing dates, or otherwise communicate with her for at least ten months during the course of his representation. After Wooden filed with the Commission a complaint concerning Barnett’s lack of communication, Barnett intentionally misled Bar Counsel concerning his discussions with Wooden regarding the Exceptions hearing dates and overall attorney-client communications. Barnett’s misconduct culminated in his unauthorized withdrawal of the Exceptions (i.e., the Exceptions were not pursued even though Wooden retained Barnett for the sole purpose of filing and pursuing Exceptions), and negatively impacted the public’s perception of the legal profession. There are no mitigating factors and Barnett’s misconduct is aggravated by multiple violations of the MLRPC and refusal to acknowledge the wrongful nature of the misconduct.

The court had entered a sua sponte order of disbarment on October 3, the date of the scheduled oral argument. THe attorney had failed to appear. (Mike Frisch)