Bar Applicant Must Disclose Ongoing Criminal Activity

The Maryland Court of Appeals has published its opinion in a matter in which disbarment had been ordered the day after oral argument.

From the court’s summary

Disbarment is the appropriate sanction when an applicant for admission to the bar who had secretly recorded, in intimate circumstances, female tenants who rented rooms in his house over a two-year period and whose conduct was discovered by the tenants and police shortly before his bar admission ceremony, failed to disclose that criminal conduct to the State Board of Law Examiners, the Attorney Grievance Commission, or the Court of Appeals.

The attorney was convicted of criminal offenses.

The court

A lawyer must, at a minimum, be trustworthy. One who wants to be a lawyer in Maryland must disclose to the State Board of Law Examiners (“SBLE”) and this Court information that bears on that trait. Failure to satisfy those requirements may prevent admission to the bar or, when discovered, result in disbarment.

We have disbarred the newly-admitted lawyer who is the respondent in this disciplinary proceeding and now set forth the reasons why we took that action. To explain our decision, we need not catalog precisely what past indiscretions an applicant must recall and reveal in a bar application. It suffices to say that an applicant who is engaged in ongoing criminal conduct while the application is pending must disclose it to SBLE and this Court. And it is self evident that an applicant who, as a landlord, uses hidden cameras to secretly view and record his tenants in their private bedrooms in intimate moments, without their knowledge or consent, is not trustworthy…

Mr. Van Dusen committed criminal acts that adversely reflect on his fitness to practice law. This conduct was neither an isolated nor a minor incident, but rather a serious invasion of the privacy of Ms. Malova, Ms. Prywes, Mr. Woodhams and others that extended over at least two years. Mr. Van Dusen also failed to disclose material information concerning his activities, their detection, investigation, and prosecution to SBLE and this Court. This demonstrated a serious lack of candor and truthfulness. The hearing judge also found that Mr. Van Dusen’s failure to notify SBLE and this Court regarding his surreptitious video recording of his tenants, the police investigation, the pending charges, the civil complaints, and the subsequent conviction, was deliberate and calculating.

The oral argument (at which the attorney represented himself) is linked here. (Mike Frisch)