Three Generations Of Bar Counsel

The Maryland Court of Appeals has disbarred Robin Ficker

Respondent Robin K.A. Ficker has been disciplined for professional misconduct on eight occasions, both in this Court and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. Beginning in 1990, when the Attorney Grievance Commission filed the first set of charges against Mr. Ficker, those occasions arose, variously, from his failures to appear in court on dates scheduled for his clients’ trials, failures to adequately prepare for his clients’ cases, failures to supervise the lawyers whom he employed to work on his clients’ cases, lack of candor to the court, and, in one instance, failure to safeguard client property. Four disciplinary proceedings resulted in published opinions. In all, three generations of Bar Counsel have brought charges and 27 members of this Court have deliberated whether a particular sanction for Mr. Ficker’s repeated infractions would deter further such practices and thus protect those who seek out his services. The Court’s prior deliberations resulted in private reprimands, public reprimands, and indefinite suspensions of Mr. Ficker from the practice of law.

Here, once again, the Commission has charged Mr. Ficker with a slate of violations of the Maryland Attorneys’ Rules of Professional Conduct (“MARPC”). In this case, the charges all stem from a situation in which Mr. Ficker failed to appear for a trial in the District Court sitting in Prince George’s County; assured the trial judge that his office had contacted his absent client about the trial date without a basis to believe that assurance to be true; and made contradictory statements as to whether he had personally signed a continuance motion that contained misstatements and that in fact had been signed and filed by his office assistant (a disbarred former attorney).

While a missed court date by an over-scheduled attorney who relies on office staff to meet the demands of a busy schedule or a good faith fumble in the filing of a continuance motion would not typically result in disbarment, the circumstances of Mr. Ficker’s cases are far from typical. Mr. Ficker has consistently failed to comply with elementary standards of the legal profession that are intended for the protection of clients and for the efficient administration of justice in our courts. The sanctions that the Court has imposed on Mr. Ficker in the past have apparently not had the desired effect. The process must come to an end. Mr. Ficker has forfeited the privilege of practicing law in Maryland and will be disbarred.

(Mike Frisch)