In re Maignan, No. 07-BG-1362.

• Decision Date: 04 February 2010
• Docket Number: No. 07-BG-1362.
• Citation: 988 A.2d 493
• Parties: In re Peter R. MAIGNAN, Respondent. A Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Bar Registration No. 461974).
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals

988 A.2d 493

In re Peter R. MAIGNAN, Respondent.

A Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Bar Registration No. 461974).

No. 07-BG-1362.

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Argued December 4, 2009.

Decided February 4, 2010.

Melvin G. Bergman, Greenbelt, MD, for respondent.

William R. Ross, Assistant Bar Counsel, with whom Wallace E. Shipp, Jr., Bar Counsel, and Judith Hetherton, Assistant Bar Counsel, were on the brief, for the Office of Bar Counsel.

Before KRAMER and THOMPSON, Associate Judges, and NEBEKER, Senior Judge.

PER CURIAM:

In this reciprocal disciplinary proceeding against respondent Peter R. Maignan, a member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Board on Professional Responsibility ("Board") has recommended that this court impose an indefinite suspension with a fitness requirement and the right to apply for reinstatement in the District of Columbia when Maignan is reinstated in Maryland, or in five years, whichever occurs first. Maignan has filed exceptions to the Board's Report and Recommendation. We accept the Board's recommendations.

I.

Maignan was admitted to the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on February 1, 1999, on motion. In 2005, Maignan was indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in Maryland, where he was also admitted to practice, for violations of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct ("Maryland Rules") involving competence, commingling and misappropriation, disbursing client funds, and interfering with the administration of justice. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Maignan, 390 Md. 287, 888 A.2d 344, 349-50 (2005). As reciprocal discipline for the Maryland matter, Maignan was suspended from the practice of law in the District of Columbia for six months with reinstatement conditioned on a showing of fitness. In re Maignan, 942 A.2d 1115, 1117-18 (D.C. 2007) ("Maignan I"). Maignan remains suspended from the practice of law in the District of Columbia in connection with the discipline imposed in Maignan I.

The matter before us involves misconduct in two separate incidents. First, Maignan entered his appearance in the Circuit Court for Prince George's County on behalf of a criminal defendant, after the Maryland Court of Appeals had entered the order of indefinite suspension, and represented to the Circuit Court that he was authorized to appear in court. Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Maryland v. Maignan, 402 Md. 39, 935 A.2d 409, 413-18 (2007). Second, Maignan failed to deposit a $4,000 retainer into his trust account and then submitted falsified documents related to the representation to disciplinary authorities. Id. at 418-20. The Maryland Court of Appeals concluded that these actions constituted violations of the Maryland Rules of competence, failure to safekeep client property, unauthorized practice of law, making false statement of fact to a tribunal, violating a disciplinary rule, conduct involving misrepresentation, and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, and the court continued its order of indefinite suspension that it had imposed in the 2005 matter. Id. at 414, 418, 419-20.

On January 3, 2008, we issued an order suspending Maignan on an interim basis pursuant to D.C. Bar R. XI, § 11(d), for the unauthorized court appearance and the trust account violation, and directing the Board to make a recommendation. In re Maignan, No. 07-BG-1362 (D.C. Jan.3, 2008). On November 18, 2008, the Board issued its report in this matter, recommending that Maignan be indefinitely suspended with a fitness requirement and with the right to apply for reinstatement after being reinstated in Maryland, or in five years, whichever occurs first. The Board further determined that Maignan's affidavit pursuant to D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14(g), which he was obligated to file as a suspended attorney, was deficient in that it failed to unambiguously state whether he had clients in the District of Columbia at the time of his interim suspension. The Board concluded Maignan should be given an opportunity to supplement his affidavit, but if he failed to file a fully-compliant affidavit within fourteen days, his suspension should be deemed to run from the time he files a fully compliant affidavit.

II.

Under D.C. Bar R. XI, § 11(f)(2), there is a rebuttable presumption in favor of the imposition of identical reciprocal discipline unless the respondent demonstrates, or the court finds on the face of the record by clear and convincing evidence, that one or more of the five exceptions set forth in D.C. Bar R. XI, § 11(c) applies. If none of the exceptions to reciprocal discipline apply, "a final determination by a disciplining court outside the District of Columbia ... that an attorney has been guilty of professional misconduct shall conclusively establish the misconduct for the purpose of a reciprocal disciplinary proceeding in this Court." D.C. Bar R. XI, § 11(c). Maignan does not assert that any of the exceptions to reciprocal discipline apply; rather he takes exception to the sanction recommended by the Board and the Board's determination that his § 14(g) affidavit was deficient. Because both of these determinations by the Board are questions of law or ultimate fact, we review the Board's recommendation de novo. In re Gallagher, 886 A.2d 64, 68 (D.C.2005).

Maignan argues that since the Maryland Court of Appeals continued his indefinite suspension in this disciplinary matter instead of imposing an additional sanction, we should continue the discipline we imposed in Maignan I, a six-month suspension with a fitness requirement. He contends that a continuation of the six-month suspension, without any additional sanction, would be an especially appropriate disposition because the trust account...