Committee on Legal Ethics of West Virginia State Bar v. Ikner

Decision Date14 December 1993
Docket NumberNo. 21974,21974
Citation190 W.Va. 433,438 S.E.2d 613
CourtWest Virginia Supreme Court
PartiesThe COMMITTEE ON LEGAL ETHICS OF the WEST VIRGINIA STATE BAR, Complainant, v. Gordon T. IKNER, a Member of the West Virginia State Bar, Respondent.

MCHUGH, Justice:

The Committee on Legal Ethics of the West Virginia State Bar (hereinafter "Committee") petitions this Court for an order suspending indefinitely, without a hearing, the law license of respondent, Gordon T. Ikner, 1 pending his apprehension and trial on criminal charges of embezzlement and forgery. Upon consideration of the Committee's petition and the response thereto, we grant the suspension.

I

The record before us consists of the petition filed by the Committee and a response filed by Mr. Ikner's attorney. The facts, which we have discussed below, are from the petition of the Committee and are, therefore, representations by the Committee.

Mr. Ikner is currently an active member of the West Virginia State Bar (hereinafter "State Bar"). Mr. Ikner practiced law in Lewisburg, West Virginia, until October 7, 1993.

A statement of charges was filed recently against Mr. Ikner alleging that he had misappropriated funds from his client trust account in 1990 and 1991. A hearing on those charges was held before the hearing panel on June 15, 1993. Mr. Ikner appeared at the hearing and testified that he had repaid all amounts misappropriated. The hearing panel then continued the hearing and directed Mr. Ikner to present documentation to establish how much he had misappropriated and whether he had restored all the amounts to the client trust account.

After the hearing, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel received additional information which indicated that the respondent had recently experienced negative balances in his client trust account. Based on this information, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel requested that Mr. Ikner provide bank records through June of 1993 and all checks and deposit slips for certain months designated by the Chief Disciplinary Counsel.

Mr. Ikner appeared at a meeting held in Charleston, West Virginia, on September 24, 1993, and presented the documents to the Chief Disciplinary Counsel. Mr. Ikner, however, would not allow counsel to take the documents, which were the originals, from his attorney's office.

Thereafter, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel obtained copies of the requested documents. However, while counsel was in the process of reviewing the documents, she received information on October 1, 1993, that Mr. Ikner may have negotiated an insurance settlement check without his client's knowledge.

On October 6, 1993, after investigating this allegation, Chief Disciplinary Counsel obtained a copy of the negotiated check. On that same day, counsel discussed the matter with Mr. Ikner, and he agreed to meet with his attorney the following day. The Chief Disciplinary Counsel represents that she intended to seek Mr. Ikner's consent to disbarment that day.

Mr. Ikner, however, did not meet with his attorney that day. Instead, in the early morning hours of October 7, 1993, Mr. Ikner allegedly left his home in Lewisburg, West Virginia, and disappeared. On October 8, 1993, a warrant for his arrest on the charges of forgery and embezzlement was issued.

On October 11, 1993, the Circuit Court of Greenbrier County appointed attorney David Ziegler of Hinton, West Virginia, to take inventory of Mr. Ikner's files and protect this clients' interests. 2

The Committee now seeks an order suspending Mr. Ikner's law license because he has voluntarily fled this jurisdiction while disciplinary proceedings were pending and new misconduct on his part was discovered. The Committee contends that his license should be suspended without a hearing on those disciplinary proceedings pending his apprehension and trial on the charges of forgery and embezzlement.

Mr. Ikner's attorney, in the response to the petition, contends that the suspension of Mr. Ikner's license to practice law is not necessary. Mr. Ikner's attorney represents that Mr. Ikner would not harm the public since his clients in West Virginia are informed of the charges against him and since it is unlikely that Mr. Ikner would attempt to practice law elsewhere. However, in the event that Mr. Ikner would attempt to practice law elsewhere, Mr. Ikner's attorney contends that the Committee could inform an inquiring party of the status of Mr. Ikner's license. Mr. Ikner's attorney also argues that a suspension in this case would violate Mr. Ikner's due process rights.

Upon receiving the Committee's complaint, this Court entered a rule directing Mr. Ikner to appear before this Court on November 30, 1993 to show cause why an order should not be entered indefinitely suspending his license to practice law. Mr. Ikner failed to appear before this Court on November 30, 1993.

II

This is a case of first impression because there is no specific By-Law in the By-Laws of the West Virginia State Bar which addresses whether or not a lawyer's license can be suspended when a lawyer disappears during a disciplinary proceeding and abandons his legal practice. Furthermore, this Court has not ever addressed this issue.

We believe that any ethical charge pending against a lawyer which indicates that the integrity of the legal system has been placed into question is serious, especially in the case before us since Mr. Ikner was aware of an ongoing disciplinary proceeding when he disappeared. The Chief Disciplinary Counsel asserts that since Mr. Ikner's whereabouts are unknown his license should be suspended to prevent him from representing that he is a West Virginia attorney to others who would be unaware of the serious charges pending against him. We have noted that "[i]ntegrity and honor are critical components of a lawyer's character as are a sense of duty and fairness. Because the legal system embraces the whole of society, the public has a vital expectation that it will be properly administered." In re Brown, 166 W.Va. 226, 232-33, 273 S.E.2d 567, 570 (1980). Thus, we agree with the Chief Disciplinary Counsel that this issue should be addressed.

This Court has stated that "[t]he primary purpose of the ethics committee is not punishment but rather the protection of the public and the reassurance of the public as to the reliability and integrity of attorneys[.]" Committee on Legal Ethics of the West Virginia State Bar v. Mullins, 159 W.Va. 647, 651, 226 S.E.2d 427, 429 (1976), overruled on another point, Committee on Legal Ethics v. Cometti, 189 W.Va. 262, 430 S.E.2d 320 (1993). In order to protect the public and uphold the public's confidence in the reliability and integrity of attorneys this Court has "the inherent power to supervise, regulate and control the practice of law in...

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