Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Md. v. Sanderson

• Decision Date: 23 July 2019
• Docket Number: Misc. Docket AG No. 3, Sept. Term, 2018
• Parties: ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION of Maryland v. Garland Montgomery Jarrat SANDERSON
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

465 Md. 1

213 A.3d 122

ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION of Maryland

v.Garland Montgomery Jarrat SANDERSON

Misc. Docket AG No. 3, Sept. Term, 2018

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

July 23, 2019

Argued by Michael W. Blow, Jr., Sr. Asst. Bar Counsel, Lydia E. Lawless, Esquire, Bar Counsel (Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland), for Petitioner.

Argued by Garland Montgomery Jarrat Sanderson (Baltimore, MD), Larry Rogers, Esquire (Baltimore, MD), for Respondent.

Argued before: Barbera, C.J., Greene, McDonald, Watts, Hotten, Getty, Lynne A. Battaglia (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned) JJ.

Getty, J.

Pursuant to Maryland Rule 19-721, Bar Counsel filed a Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action ("Petition") against Respondent, Garland Montgomery Jarrat Sanderson, in this Court on March 26, 2018. In the Petition, Bar Counsel charged Mr. Sanderson with multiple violations of the Maryland Attorneys' Rules of Professional Conduct,¹ throughout his representation of several clients, including: (i) MLRPC 1.1 (Competency); (ii) MLRPC 1.2 (Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Between Client and Attorney); (iii) MLRPC 1.3 (Diligence); (iv) MLRPC 1.4 (Communication); (v) MLRPC 1.5 (Fees); (vi) MLRPC 3.4 (Fairness to Opposing Party and Attorney); (vii) MLRPC 8.1 (Bar Admission and Disciplinary Matters); and (viii) MLRPC 8.4 (Misconduct). The Petition also alleged several violations of the provisions regulating attorney trust accounts including: (i) Maryland Rule 19-407; (ii) Maryland Rule 19-408; (iii) Maryland Rule 19-410; and (iv) Md. Code (1984, 2014 Repl. Vol.), Business Occupations and Professions ("BOP") § 10-306.

The charges emanated from various complaints filed with Bar Counsel against Mr. Sanderson, stretching across Mr. Sanderson's representation of several clients. Pursuant to Maryland Rule 19-722, we referred the Petition to Judge John S. Nugent of the Circuit Court for Baltimore City for a hearing to determine findings of fact and recommended conclusions of law.

See also Md. Rule 19-727. The hearing spanned two days occurring on November 26 and 27, 2018.

On January 10, 2019, the hearing judge issued his findings of fact and conclusions of law. Therein, he concluded that Mr. Sanderson violated MLRPC 1.1; 1.2 (a) and (c); 1.3; 1.4(a)(1), (a)(2), and (b); 1.5(c); 1.15(a), (b), (c), and (d); 3.4;² 8.1; and 8.4(a), (c), and (e). The hearing judge also concluded that Mr. Sanderson violated Maryland Rules 19-410(b), 19-407, 19-408, and BOP § 10-306.

Both Mr. Sanderson and Bar Counsel filed exceptions to the hearing judge's findings of fact and recommended conclusions of law. In terms of his factual findings, both parties agree that the hearing judge incorrectly determined that Mr. Sanderson owed one of his clients, Ms. Sharon Ozel, $6,900 instead of $4,900. Mr. Sanderson also took exception to several of the hearing judge's conclusions of law, and each will be discussed at length within our analysis. Bar Counsel's sole exception to the hearing judge's conclusions of law concerned the hearing judge's failure to find that Mr. Sanderson violated MLRPC 8.4(d). In terms of an appropriate sanction, Bar Counsel urged this court to disbar Mr. Sanderson; whereas, Mr. Sanderson recommended a more lenient sanction – a six-month suspension with an ability to reinstate once he satisfies certain conditions.

This Court held oral argument in the matter on April 5, 2019. Although Larry Rogers, Esq., entered his appearance as counsel to represent Mr. Sanderson in these proceedings and although Mr. Rogers was present at oral argument, Mr. Sanderson argued on his own behalf. By per curiam order dated April 5, 2019, we disbarred Mr. Sanderson. In this opinion, we explain the reasons for that order.

BACKGROUND

We summarize the hearing judge's findings of fact and the record submitted at the attorney grievance hearing as follows.

Mr. Sanderson's Legal Practice

Mr. Sanderson has been a member of the Bar of Maryland since 2005. He operates as a solo practitioner with offices in Baltimore City and Silver Spring. His practice has primarily focused on child in need of assistance ("CINA") cases, personal injury, criminal and immigration cases. Throughout the events described herein, Mr. Sanderson maintained a Maryland attorney trust account with Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. ("Wells Fargo").

Bar Counsel Docket No. 2013-297-04-14

The first complaint against Mr. Sanderson originated from his representation of a client, Olugboyega O. Odubanjo before Judge Patricia Mitchell of the District Court of Maryland sitting in Montgomery County. In short, Mr. Sanderson failed to appear in court on behalf of Mr. Odubanjo. As a result, Judge Mitchell filed a complaint against him with Bar Counsel.

On January 24, 2013, Mr. Odubanjo was charged with three potentially incarcerable traffic offenses. Mr. Odubanjo's initial trial date was set for August 9, 2012. After appearing before the court without counsel, Mr. Odubanjo requested a continuance so that he could retain counsel. The district court granted the continuance and rescheduled the hearing for January 24, 2013.

The day before Mr. Odubanjo's trial, i.e., January 23, 2013, Mr. Sanderson filed a motion for continuance and an entry of appearance on behalf of Mr. Odubanjo.³ In the motion, Mr. Sanderson explained that he was unable to participate in the hearing scheduled for the following day because of a scheduling conflict. Further, Mr. Sanderson entered his appearance of Mr. Odubanjo the day prior to trial, knowing full well he would be unable to appear before the court if his motion were denied. On the morning of January 24, 2013, the district court denied the motion because the court determined that Mr. Sanderson's action of "accepting a case knowing of [ ] existing, conflicting trial dates did not constitute good cause for a [second] continuance."⁴

Unaware of the motion or its denial, Mr. Odubanjo appeared before the district court on January 24, 2013. When Mr. Odubanjo's case was called, Judge Mitchell delayed the hearing in attempt to locate Mr. Sanderson. Ultimately, Mr. Sanderson failed to appear on behalf of Mr. Odubanjo despite Judge Mitchell's denial of his motion for continuance. Mr. Sanderson's absence caused further delay in the resolution of Mr. Odubanjo's case and required the court to schedule a third hearing. Consequently, Mr. Odubanjo then terminated Mr. Sanderson's representation, and Judge Mitchell filed a complaint with Bar Counsel regarding Mr. Sanderson's conduct.

On March 14, 2013, after receiving Judge Mitchell's complaint, Bar Counsel sent a letter to Mr. Sanderson requesting he explain in writing why he failed to appear in court on Mr. Odubanjo's behalf. The communication indicated that Bar Counsel required additional information to determine whether the matter should be classified as a formal documented complaint or non-disciplinary in nature. Additionally, Bar Counsel's letter provided Mr. Sanderson with fifteen days to respond to the request. In a letter dated April 29, 2013, Mr. Sanderson provided Bar Counsel with an untimely response. Therein, he represented that he understood his actions were inappropriate but argued they were driven by a desire to assist Mr. Odubanjo.

In correspondence dated March 14, 2013, Bar Counsel informed Mr. Sanderson that his case required additional review to determine whether he violated provisions of the MLRPC throughout his representation of Mr. Odubanjo. On May 23, 2013, Bar Counsel sent a letter to Mr. Sanderson that requested he provide Bar Counsel with a copy of his entire client file for Mr. Odubanjo. In the letter, Bar Counsel provided Mr. Sanderson with a fifteen-day period to respond. Again, Mr. Sanderson failed to respond in a timely manner. On July 3, 2013, Mr. Sanderson responded to Bar Counsel's request for Mr. Odubanjo's client file. In this correspondence, with reference to a client file corresponding to his representation of Mr. Odubanjo, Mr. Sanderson replied that "no such documents or documents [sic] exist[,]" and denied that Mr. Odubanjo ever retained him as his attorney. Mr. Sanderson continued by stating, "I attempt [sic] to get a postponement for Mr. Odubanjo, and if that would have been granted we were to make arrangements for representation."

Conditional Diversion Agreement

On January 6, 2014, based on Mr. Sanderson's alleged misconduct in his representation of Mr. Odubanjo, Mr. Sanderson and Bar Counsel entered into a Conditional Diversion Agreement ("CDA"), pursuant to Maryland Rule 19-716.⁵ The agreement was for a period of two years and therein Mr. Sanderson agreed that he had violated MLRPC 1.1 by failing to appear on behalf of Mr. Odubanjo. As a condition of his agreement with Bar Counsel, Mr. Sanderson consented to the appointment of a monitor. The monitor's role involved providing oversight of certain aspects of Mr. Sanderson's practice, conducting regular communication and meetings with Mr. Sanderson, and filing reports with Bar Counsel at specified intervals. Under the CDA, Mr. Sanderson was also required to attend two legal education courses sponsored by the Maryland State Bar Association ("MSBA"): one course focusing on managing a law office and a second concerning attorney trust account management. The Attorney Grievance Commission approved the CDA on February 14, 2014 and stayed the corresponding disciplinary matter.

From the time of the CDA until Bar Counsel filed a petition to revoke the CDA on April 25, 2017, Midgett S. Parker Jr., Esq. of the Law Office of Linowes & Blocher, LLP served as Mr. Sanderson's monitor. Within this period, Mr. Parker filed twelve reports with Bar Counsel. During Parker's tenure as Mr. Sanderson's monitor, he met with and counseled Sanderson multiple times. Following the meetings, Mr. Parker would draft communications regarding Mr. Sanderson's progress and communicate his conclusions to Bar Counsel. In each report, Mr. Parker indicated that Mr. Sanderson was receptive to his suggestions...