Circuit Court Injunction Draws Reciprocal Suspension

The web page of the District of Columbia Bar reports an unusual application of interim reciprocal discipline based on an order of a circuit court rather than Maryland’s highest court

DCCA Order (March 18, 2024)

Summary: In re Sari Karson Kurland. Bar No. 424297. March 18, 2024. Kurland was suspended on an interim basis based on an order of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County Maryland, temporarily enjoining Kurland from the practice of law in the state of Maryland.

Rule XI provides, in partinent part:

(1) “state” shall mean any state, territory, or possession of the United States.
(2) “disciplining court” shall mean (a) any court of the United States as defined in Title 28, Section 451 of the United States Code;(b) the highest court of any state;and (c) any other agency, commission, or tribunal, however denominated, that is authorized to impose discipline effective throughout a state…

 (d) Temporary suspension and show cause order.
Upon receipt of a certified copy of an order demonstrating that an attorney subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of this Court has been suspended or disbarred by another disciplining court, the Court shall forthwith enter an order (1) suspending the attorney from the practice of law in the District of Columbia pending final disposition of any reciprocal disciplinary proceeding, and (2) directing the attorney to show cause within thirty days why identical reciprocal discipline should not be imposed. Disciplinary Counsel shall reply to the attorney’s response to the show cause order no later than fifteen days after service of the response. Alternatively, no later than fifteen days after the attorney’s response was due, Disciplinary Counsel may object to the imposition of reciprocal discipline based upon the factors set forth in subsection (c) of this section. In either case, Disciplinary Counsel shall provide the Court with the relevant portions of the record of the proceeding in the other disciplining court, the statute and the rules that governed it, and a short statement identifying all of the issues that the matter presents. 

Query whether a circuit court injunction meets these definitions. (Mike Frisch)