Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Md. v. Butler
| Decision Date | 27 January 2015 |
| Docket Number | Misc. Docket AG No. 31, Sept. Term, 2013. |
| Citation | 107 A.3d 1220,441 Md. 352 |
| Parties | ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND v. Lance BUTLER, III. |
| Court | Court of Special Appeals of Maryland |
441 Md. 352
107 A.3d 1220
ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND
v.
Lance BUTLER, III.
Misc. Docket AG No. 31, Sept. Term, 2013.
Court of Appeals of Maryland.
Jan. 27, 2015.
JaCina N. Stanton, Asst. Bar Counsel (Glenn M. Grossman, Bar Counsel, Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland), for petitioner.
Lance Butler III, Esq. (Washington, DC), for respondent.
Argued before BARBERA, C.J., HARRELL, BATTAGLIA, GREENE, ADKINS, McDONALD, WATTS, JJ.
Opinion
GREENE, J.
On July 22, 2013, the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland (“Petitioner” or “Bar Counsel”), acting pursuant to Maryland Rule 16–751(a), filed a “Petition For Disciplinary Or Remedial Action” against Lance Butler, III (“Respondent” or “Butler”). Petitioner charged Respondent with violating Maryland Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct (“MLRPC” or “Rule”) 8.1 (Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters),1 and 8.4(d) (Misconduct).2
This Court referred the matter to the Honorable Beverly J. Woodard of the Circuit Court for Prince George's County for a hearing to render findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Md. Rule 16–757. Judge Woodard conducted an evidentiary hearing on January 15, 2014. Thereafter, Judge Woodard issued Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, in which she found, by clear and convincing evidence, that Respondent violated solely MLRPC 8.1. Judge Woodard set forth her findings as follows:
Findings of Fact
On December 11, 2007, Respondent was admitted to the Maryland Bar. He is also admitted to the District of Columbia Bar. Respondent is currently employed with the United States Agency for International Development (hereinafter “USAID”) in Washington, DC. Respondent presently resides at his primary residence located at 2022 Trenton Place, Washington, DC 20020 (hereinafter “2022 Trenton Place address”). He has resided at the 2022 Trenton Place address since approximately 2006. Sometime in 2008, Respondent opened a law practice at 8957–A Edmonston Road, Greenbelt, Maryland. In 2011, Respondent closed his Greenbelt law office.
From March 2012 through February 2013, Petitioner mailed numerous letters to Respondent at both his 2022 Trenton Place address and his work address at USAID. Respondent denied receiving all but two of Petitioner's letters. Attorney Grievance Commission Investigator Robert Versis testified on behalf of Petitioner at Respondent's hearing. On August 13, 2012, Mr. Versis was assigned the investigation of this matter by Assistant Bar Counsel JaCina Stanton (hereinafter “Ms. Stanton”). Shortly thereafter, Mr. Versis
visited the 2022 Trenton Place address several times and left a business card there.
Mr. Versis testified that beginning in early October 2012, he repeatedly called Respondent to inform him that a complaint had been filed against him and that Respondent was required to respond to the complaint. Mr. Versis did not reach Respondent in person, but left several messages on his USAID voicemail and his cell phone. Respondent testified during the hearing that the telephone numbers that Mr. Versis
called were his correct office and cell phone numbers in 2012 and 2013.
In October 2012, Mr. Versis testified that he spoke with Respondent by telephone about the complaint. During the October 2012 telephone call, Mr. Versis testified that Respondent told him that he had received all of Petitioner's letters beginning with the March 2012 letter. Respondent denies ever making this statement.
On December 5, 2012, Ms. Stanton mailed a certified letter to Respondent at USAID informing him that a complaint had been filed against him. Respondent acknowledged receipt of the December 5, 2012 letter. Ms. Stanton also left a telephone message on Respondent's office voice mail at USAID. Respondent did not respond to Ms. Stanton's letter or telephone message. On December 26, 2012, Ms. Stanton mailed a certified letter to Respondent at USAID. Respondent also acknowledged receiving the December 26, 2012 letter. Throughout the months of December 2012 and January 2013, Commission Investigator Robert Versis repeatedly attempted to contact Respondent by telephone.
Respondent failed to respond to Mr. Versis's telephone messages. Respondent testified that he called Ms. Stanton and Mr. Versis in December 2012, but does not recall the exact date of his telephone call. After their initial conversation in October 2012, Mr. Versis did not recall receiving phone calls from Respondent until January 2013.
On January 28, 2013, Mr. Versis interviewed Respondent's supervisor, Mark Walther. Mr. Walther provided Mr. Versis with Respondent's address at USAID. On January 28,
2013, Mr. Versis interviewed Respondent. During Respondent's interview with Mr. Versis, he recalled that Respondent told him that he had received several telephone messages and letters from Bar Counsel and Mr. Versis, but chose not to respond to the messages and letters. On February 12, 2013, Respondent responded substantively in writing to the underlying complaint.
Respondent testified during the hearing in this matter that he only received the December 5, 2012 and December 26, 2012 letters from Bar Counsel. He also contended that the underlying complaint was without merit and Bar Counsel had no evidence to refute this claim. During Respondent's deposition for this matter, he testified that he received two letters, but could not recall which of the two letters he received.
Respondent informed [the] court that he did not respond to Petitioner's letters due to his fear of Bar Counsel, which began as a law student. Respondent testified during his deposition in detail about his fear of Bar Counsel:
Q: Okay. Can you tell me where your fear came from to respond to Bar Counsel?
A: As I stated to you on the phone, growing up I had a tough life. This is all I wanted to do and I achieved it, going through the process in law school, whatever, you would always hear things from professors, people from Bar Counsel coming into the school and saying the last thing that you ever want to do is get a letter from Bar Counsel because you're in trouble. And I remember that and when I saw it I immediately panicked and I thought that, you know, I had done something wrong, although I
couldn't recall what in the world I could have done. I got scared and I just, I just got scared, that's all.
Respondent also stated that his mailbox had been vandalized in the past at his home address and has had to be replaced three times. Petitioner introduced a picture of Respondent's home address into the record with an intact mailbox in front of his residence, however, there is no date attached to [identify] when the photo was taken. Petitioner
also introduced an affidavit from Capitol Process Servers that detailed their repeated attempts to serve Respondent the Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action over a period of two months. (Citations to the record omitted.)
Judge Woodard then concluded, based upon our prior cases, that Respondent violated MLRPC 8.1(b) by his “repeated failure to respond to Bar Counsel's letters.” Judge Woodard further concluded that Respondent did not violate MLRPC 8.4(d), however, because “Respondent's failure to respond to Bar Counsel was not conduct related directly to the practice of law which would directly or indirectly erode the public's confidence in the legal system.... By choosing to ignore Bar Counsel, Respondent's behavior impeded the investigative process but did not prejudice the administration of justice.”
In addition, the hearing judge found as mitigating facts that “Respondent testified that he volunteers for a domestic violence legal services program [,] has a top secret clearance[, and] had recently received a positive job evaluation from USAID.” In addition, she found that once Respondent finally made contact with Bar Counsel, he “stayed in touch at least every week or every other week with Bar Counsel.”
Neither Petitioner nor Respondent has filed with this Court any exceptions to Judge Woodard's recommended findings of fact or conclusions of law.
DISCUSSION
In attorney discipline proceedings, this Court has original and complete jurisdiction and...
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