Burkman Seeks Consent Disbarment

John Burkman has filed a motion for disbarment by consent with the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility

Respondent was suspended on December 5, 2023, following his guilty plea in the Court of Common Pleas in Cuyahoga County, Ohio to telecommunications fraud. Order, In re Burkman, D.C. App. No. 23-BG-0980 (Dec. 5, 2023). The Court’s December 5 Order directed the Board “to institute a formal proceeding to determine the nature of the offense and whether it involves moral turpitude within the meaning of D.C. Code § 11-2503(a)(2001).” Id.

If the Court agrees with the Board’s recommendation to disbar Respondent on consent, the Board further recommends that the Court decline to consider whether Respondent’s criminal conviction involved moral turpitude. See In re Schulman, 960 A.2d 617, 617 (D.C. 2008) (per curiam) (following disbarment on consent, a separate disciplinary proceeding arising out of a criminal conviction was dismissed as moot).

The Federal Communications Commission announced substantial fines for poltical robocalls in June 2023

The Federal Communications Commission today adopted a $5,134,500 fine against John M. Burkman, Jacob Alexander Wohl, and J.M. Burkman & Associates LLC for making 1,141 unlawful robocalls. In this unanimous decision, the FCC rejected the arguments asserted by the parties in their response to the Commission’s 2021 proposed fine in this case.

The robocalls in this case, made on August 26 and September 14, 2020, told potential voters that if they voted by mail, their “personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts.” The recorded messages identified Burkman and Wohl by name and claimed to be made by “Project-1599.”

In response to the Commission’s 2021 proposed fine, Burkman and Wohl argued that the dialing companies they hired to make the calls were responsible for any alleged violations. Yet, their own emails show Burkman and Wohl directing the dialing companies on specific details of the calling campaigns such as which zip codes to call, pricing, and other matters related to the robocalling campaign. In addition, the FCC has been clear for many years that it looks at the totality of circumstances in determining which party is liable for directing illegal robocalls. Burkman and Wohl, who have each subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of telecommunications fraud, were fined and sentenced to community service which included 500 hours registering voters in minority and low-income communities.

The parties also argued in their response that political robocalls are exempt from the Telephone Consumer Protection Act restrictions. However, as the Commission has previously stated, the mere fact that a calling campaign is political in nature does not protect the caller from liability under Commission rules.

The Court of Appeals will decide whether to accept the proposed disposition. (Mike Frisch)