In Due Course

The Virgin Islands Supreme Court has denied an attorney’s petition for a writ of mandamus

In his petition, Burns requests that this Court issue a writ compelling the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (“ODC”) and/or the Board on Professional Responsibility (“BPR”) to dismiss a grievance filed against him or, in the alternative, to order them to take action to move the underlying proceeding forward to a timely resolution, including constituting a proper panel, resolving disputed discovery issues, and establishing deadlines for the disposition of the matter.

Relief denied

all of Burns’ claims against the ODC must fail because the ODC cannot provide him with any of the relief he seeks, since the ODC lacks the authority to unilaterally dismiss the grievance or to impose case processing deadlines for the BPR.

Reasons the matter has not yet been resolved

Significantly, it appears that Burns, his co-respondent, and the ODC attempted to resolve these issues themselves for more than a year, and that the BPR’s intervention on these issues was not requested until February 13, 2023, when Burns and his co-respondent filed a “Joint Motion to Dismiss (and Request for Oral Argument)” requesting dismissal or, in the alternative, rulings on all these disputed discovery issues. Moreover, correspondence between Burns, his co-respondent, and the ODC attached as an exhibit to the petition reflect that the parties had been in active negotiations to settle the grievance by consent as late as May 2023. Given these outstanding issues—all of which appear to have been initiated by Burns or his co-respondent and were only brought to the BPR’s attention less than four months ago—as well as the possibility that the parties may reach a compromise, the decision of the BPR Chair to not issue a notice of hearing is certainly understandable. We are confident, now that these issues have been brought before the BPR for resolution, that they will be resolved by the BPR in due course. Accordingly, we deny the petition for writ of mandamus.

(Mike Frisch)