Disorderly
The California State Bar Court Review Department tripled a proposed sanction and increased the proposed discipline from 30 to 90 days
In 2014, David Leon Speckman filed a fraudulent insurance claim for a commercial property he owned in Nevada, and he was prosecuted the following year by the Nevada Office of the Attorney General. He ultimately pleaded nolo contendere to a misdemeanor conviction for disorderly conduct. Later, Speckman made misleading statements to the State Bar of Nevada (Nevada Bar) in its attorney disciplinary investigation of the criminal matter. The hearing judge found that the facts and circumstances surrounding his conviction in Nevada involved moral turpitude, concluding that his “overall misconduct demonstrates a disregard for honesty.” She recommended discipline that included an actual suspension of 30 days.
The Office of Chief Trial Counsel of the State Bar (OCTC) appeals, asserting that Speckman’s misconduct warrants at least six months of actual suspension. It also asks that we find more acts of moral turpitude or, alternatively, aggravation for bad faith, lack of candor, or dishonesty, along with additional weight for aggravation and less weight for the mitigation found by the hearing judge. Speckman does not appeal. In his responsive brief on review, he states that he “accepts the hearing judge’s factual findings and conclusions of law” that his conviction involved moral turpitude, and asserts that greater discipline is not warranted.
After independently reviewing the record (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 9.12), we reject OCTC’s challenges and agree with the hearing judge’s findings of fact and conclusions of law, while making minor modifications to her mitigation and aggravation factors. However, given the seriousness of the misconduct, we recommend an actual suspension of 90 days to protect the public, the courts, and the legal profession.
The insurance claim
Speckman, who resides in California, owned a commercial building in Las Vegas, Nevada, which he leased to a baseball academy owned by Andrew Concepcion. The building was equipped with three 20-ton HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) units located on the roof. In March 2011, thieves vandalized two units by removing copper from them. Speckman submitted an insurance claim and paid for repair of the units. In May 2013, the same two units were again vandalized. Speckman submitted another insurance claim, but it was not approved until February 2014. Because that insurance claim had not been approved by the end of 2013, the two units remained unrepaired and only one 20-ton unit was functioning…
During its investigation, Travelers interviewed the insurance broker who obtained the Colony policy and Concepcion, who informed the investigator that the date of loss was December 31, 2013. On June 23, 2014, Travelers denied the claim, finding that the loss occurred outside the policy period.
(Mike Frisch)