Holding Out

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court added 18 months to a three-year suspension for practice while suspended

Respondent received notice of Supreme Court’s Order placing him on administrative suspension as well as correspondence from the Disciplinary Board alerting Respondent to the restrictions placed on administratively suspended attorneys. Nonetheless, shortly thereafter, in the Pennsylvania SEC matter, Respondent held himself out as an attorney to the SEC, using stationery with letterhead from his former law office, providing an address of a nonexistent law office, and including the professional designation of “Esq.” after his name . The SEC informed ODC of Respondent’s transgressions and ODC promptly sent Respondent a DB-7 Request informing Respondent that his conduct before the Pennsylvania SEC may have violated the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Undaunted, Respondent again held himself out as an attorney to third parties and used both stationery and the escrow account from the “Elam Law Firm” in the Motion Picture Project matter. Even after the Supreme Court ordered that Respondent be suspended from the practice of law for three years, Respondent continued to engage in the unauthorized practice of law, in that he knowingly continued to hold himself out to third parties as an attorney, engaged in prohibited law-related activities, and received a legal fee for doing so.

Respondent’s repeated conduct of using stationery with the letterhead of the Elam Law Firm, an escrow account entitled “The Elam Law Firm,” and the professional designation of “Esq.” after his name was analogous to the deceitful conduct of the attorneys in Goldin-D:idinsky, Moeller, and Martin. Goldin-Didinsky and Moeller . both used legal stationery with a non-existent law office address, whereas Martin created a fee agreement for a non-existent law firm. These three formerly admitted attorneys, like Respondent, knowingly gave documents to third parties that falsely communicated that they were an.attorney in good standing.

The sanction was imposed by consent. (Mike Frisch)