SOL In Utah

The Utah Supreme Court held that a bar discipline matter was brought more than four years after “discovery” of the misconduct and affirmed dismissal on statute of limitations grounds

we are able to affirm the district court’s decision on the facts of this case. Where misconduct is discovered by a party with an interest in filing an informal complaint, that is sufficient to start the running of the statute of limitations under the current version of the rule. The facts of this case do not implicate our concerns about over-expanding the discovery rule to reach those who are unaffected by the misconduct. The Wilsons had an interest in filing a bar complaint, as they were the party most aggrieved by Dahlquist’s conduct. And they “discovered” his conduct during the trial because they witnessed it firsthand. But they did not file a bar complaint until after they were contacted by the OPC—years after the incident when the claim was already time-barred…

We hold that, under rule 14-529, the limitations period was triggered when the Wilsons learned of the alleged misconduct. The limitations period stops running when any party, including the OPC, files an informal complaint with the Bar in accordance with rule 14-510. Here, this took place when the  Wilsons verified their informal complaint with the Bar. Because Dahlquist’s misconduct was discovered in October and November 2008, and proceedings against him did not begin until March 2015, this case is barred by the statute of limitations. We affirm.

The alleged misconduct

The Office of Professional Conduct (OPC) filed an attorney discipline case against Charles W. Dahlquist, II for repeatedly violating a judge’s order in limine during a 2008 jury
trial. No one present at the trial alerted the OPC to the conduct. Rather, the OPC learned of it from our opinion reversing the jury’s verdict and granting a new trial based in part on Dahlquist’s violations of the order…

The OPC immediately opened an investigation. But by this time, over three-and-a-half years had passed since the original trial. Nevertheless, the OPC proceeded with its investigation and communicated with the plaintiffs in the underlying case. The plaintiffs eventually filed an informal complaint with the Utah State Bar in 2015. After a hearing on the informal complaint before a screening panel of the Ethics and Discipline Committee, the OPC filed this case in the district court in 2016.

(Mike Frisch)