Morrissey Revoked
From the web page of the Virginia State Bar
By order entered March 30, 2018, the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond revoked Joseph Dee Morrissey’s license to practice law in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The revocation is effective June 15, 2018. The three-judge panel found that Morrissey violated professional rules regarding misconduct, the responsibilities of partners and supervisory lawyers, and the unauthorized practice of law.
This high-profile matter was reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch
A weeklong disciplinary hearing in Richmond involving multiple allegations of professional misconduct by Richmond attorney Joe Morrissey ended late Friday afternoon with a three-judge panel announcing that it was revoking Morrissey’s law license for the second time in his career.
The revocation is effective June 15, but Morrissey’s attorneys said they would immediately appeal and ask the Virginia Supreme Court to stay imposition of punishment.
Virginia State Bar attorney Edward Davis, in closing arguments, had asked the panel to consider revocation but said anything short of suspending Morrissey’s license would be inappropriate. Morrissey’s lawyers asked for a license suspension of not more than 30 days.
“I think the proceedings were fair,” Davis said after Friday’s final hearing in Richmond Circuit Court, declining to comment further.
Morrissey, a former state delegate, Richmond commonwealth’s attorney and Richmond mayoral candidate, was visibly disappointed with the decision. But he left it to one of his attorneys, William M. Stanley Jr., to talk about the case and its outcome.
“Of course we’re disappointed in the revocation,” said Stanley, a Republican state senator from Franklin County. “But there were 21 charges brought by the Virginia State Bar, and after the presentation of evidence, 18 of those were dismissed against Mr. Morrissey. Two of the findings of violation were technical in nature.”
“Of course we understood [that Morrissey’s 2014] Alford plea conviction for one misdemeanor would bring about a disciplinary proceeding,” Stanley added, referring to Morrissey’s conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. “Ultimately this court decided that revocation was in order. Perhaps it was because of [Morrissey’s] past dealings with the bar.”
“But we will appeal this verdict and ask the Virginia Supreme Court to stay its imposition,” Stanley said. “And we will do everything we can to make sure ‘Fightin’ Joe’ is fighting for the people that can’t fight for themselves — as it should be and as it will be.”
The three judges impaneled to hear the case were Paul W. Cella of Powhatan County, the panel’s chief judge, and retired Judges Louis R. Lerner of Hampton and Jonathan C. Thacher of Fairfax.
The judges, who deliberated in chambers a little more than an hour before announcing their decision, initially ruled that Morrissey’s license would be revoked May 15. But Stanley asked them to reconsider to give Morrissey more time to notify existing clients and get his law practice in order. The judges agreed, giving him an additional month.
In seeking a stiff sanction, Davis argued that Morrissey had a “pattern of misconduct” that stretches for decades and that his 2014 conviction for contributing to the delinquency of a minor — which involved sexual relations with his then-17-year-old office receptionist, whom he eventually married — was especially egregious. It was a “serious crime … that renders him unfit to be an officer of the court.”
“This misconduct by its nature serves to undermine public confidence in the profession,” Davis asserted.
But defense attorney Aaron B. Houchens argued that Morrissey has already “paid a price” for that conviction that and his relationship with the former Myrna Warren was consensual, and had developed into a loving, committed relationship with three children.
“They are raising a family and attempting to put this matter behind them,” said Houchens, who distributed family photos to the judges to illustrate how Morrissey has “cultivated a loving family life.”
During the sanctions phase of Friday’s proceeding, the defense called 10 witnesses who vouched for Morrissey’s character as a husband, father, mentor, lawyer and community philanthropist, speaking of him in consistently favorable terms. They included attorneys who worked with him, such as Gary Hershner, and community activists such as the Rev. Joe Ellison, who testified that he still finds Morrissey trustworthy despite the allegations.
“I think Myrna is the best thing that happened to Joe,” Ellison said. “I think this added a tremendous blessing to him.”
But Davis read in court portions of Morrissey’s previous legal and ethical difficulties stretching back to the late 1980s and early 1990s, when he was Richmond’s commonwealth’s attorney, to emphasize what he described as a pattern of misconduct.
Morrissey’s law license was first suspended in 2000, when a three-judge panel ruled that he had violated the state’s code of ethics for lawyers after he was held in contempt of court three times. Three years later, his license was revoked outright for failing to notify clients that his license had been suspended. In 2012, the Virginia Supreme Court reinstated his license in a 4-3 decision.
On Wednesday, the current three-judge panel found that Morrissey had violated a rule of professional conduct, in connection with his 2013 relationship with his receptionist, but cleared him Thursday of misconduct charges stemming from his representation of the planned Virginia Slavery Museum in complaints filed by former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, the founder of the now-defunct museum.
Earlier Friday, the judges ruled that Morrissey violated two rules of conduct in connection with another attorney in his office representing a client on his behalf.
Morrissey was found in violation of a rule that requires a lawyer with direct supervisory authority over another lawyer to make “reasonable efforts” to ensure that the other lawyer conforms to the state bar’s rules of professional conduct.
He also was found in violation of a rule that prohibits an attorney from assisting another lawyer from practicing law “in violation of the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction.”
Those violations involved another attorney in his office, Ericka Battle, representing David A. Jones in King and Queen County on Morrissey’s behalf before she was completely qualified to do so. She had passed her bar exam but not yet taken the oath of fidelity to Virginia.
Jones — who in 2013 faced a felony charge of malicious wounding and three misdemeanors, all of which were ultimately dropped — claimed that he was never notified of the change, which would be a breach of the bar’s rules.
Battle had passed the bar on July 30, 2013, and was licensed by the Virginia State Bar on Oct. 31 of that year, and on Nov. 8 was registered and listed with the bar as “active, in good standing.” However, she wasn’t administered the oath of fidelity by the Virginia Supreme Court until two days after Jones’ court hearing.
Virginia law says that before an attorney may practice in any court in the state, he or she must take an oath of fidelity to the state.
Morrissey testified that there “was no doubt in my mind” that Battle was a lawyer because he recalled that she came into the office one day waving a letter that it was official. He said he wouldn’t have allowed her to represent Jones had he known she had not taken the fidelity oath.
Ann Lawson, Morrissey’s legal secretary, testified that Morrissey and another office attorney were tied up the day of the hearing, and she asked Battle if she could go to the court with Jones, with the understanding that Morrissey already had arranged to have the charges against Jones withdrawn. Lawson testified that Battle didn’t say she couldn’t go.
But Houchens, Morrissey’s attorney, said that “there was no protest” by Battle and that Morrissey believed she had fulfilled all of her obligations to become a lawyer and never directly instructed her to go to court on his behalf. Morrissey testified that when Lawson suggested Battle be sent, he replied: “Yeah, send Ericka, of course.”
Bristling at the dismissal of the ethics complaint he had filed against his onetime lawyer, Wilder insisted Friday that he was never properly notified that he was expected to appear at Thursday’s disciplinary hearing to testify.
Morrissey’s lawyers had issued a subpoena for Wilder to appear as a witness in the complaint, which stemmed from Wilder’s accusations that Morrissey had not competently represented him in a tax case related to Wilder’s National Slavery Museum. Morrissey has contended that Wilder is simply trying to avoid paying his legal bill.
The judges hearing the complaint tossed out two charges Thursday after ruling that the state bar had failed to present clear and convincing evidence and another two after Wilder failed to appear.
While the judges noted that Wilder was properly served at his office at Virginia Commonwealth University this month, the former governor says the subpoena was given to a student worker, who then provided it to his former assistant, who then sent him a scanned copy.
Wilder, also a lawyer, said the student was not authorized to receive legal service on his behalf, invalidating the subpoena.
“He did it wrong,” Wilder said. “Morrissey knows how to serve me.”
Wilder appeared in court Friday and asked to address the panel, but the judges cut him off, saying that his complaints against Morrissey were resolved Thursday and that it would be inappropriate to rehash them.
“It’s been resolved, sir. No offense,” said Cella, the chief judge on the panel.
In an interview later, Wilder said he does not consider the issue resolved.
“I would say to you: It ain’t over,” he said.
(Mike Frisch)