Eary, In re
| Decision Date | 28 March 1950 |
| Citation | 134 W.Va. 204,58 S.E.2d 647 |
| Court | West Virginia Supreme Court |
| Parties | In re EARY. |
The inherent power of this Court to grant a license to practice law in the courts of this State will not be exercised in favor of one who files an application for such license but fails to allege and establish by proof the requirements of Code, 30-2-1.
Sherman H. Eary in pro per.
Robert Merricks, Charleston, for West Virginia State Bar.
A. G. Stone, Charleston, Charleston Bar Association, et al.
LOVINS, President.
Sherman H. Eary, Sr., hereinafter referred to as 'petitioner', filed his petition in this Court, praying that he be granted a license to practice law. The petition is lengthy and recites his educational background; that he was licensed to practice law by this Court on September 18, 1928; that in the year 1929, he was employed by J. William Hall to represent the said Hall in procuring an award of compensation from the State Compensation Commissioner; that he collected the sum of $2,544.18 accrued compensation for said Hall; and that his client departed this life approximately eleven months after receipt of check therefor.
The petition further recites that a controversy arose between petitioner and the administratrix of the estate of J. William Hall with reference to the amount retained by petitioner as compensation for his services; and that the controversy resulted in litigation in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, in which a verdict and judgment in the sum of $763.13 was rendered against petitioner. In the same hearing the Circuit Court of Kanawha County found petitioner guilty of a misdemeanor, assessed a fine of twenty dollars, and ordered that petitioner be 'disbarred from practicing as an attorney in any of the courts of this state.' This Court granted a writ of error to those portions of the judgment of said circuit court ascertaining that Eary was guilty of a misdemeanor, assessing a fine of twenty dollars against him, and disbarring him from practicing as an attorney in any of the courts of this State; but the Court denied a writ of error as to that portion of the judgment finding the amount due the administratrix of the said Hall. Upon hearing this Court reversed that portion of the judgment of said circuit court as to which said writ of error was granted. Hall v. Eary, 114 W.Va. 82, 170 S.E. 904.
After the reversal aforesaid, The Charleston Bar Association instituted proceedings in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, charging petitioner with malpractice. Upon a hearing, Eary appeared and resisted disbarment, but the Circuit Court of Kanawha County, on the 26th day of January, 1934 entered an order annulling the license of petitioner to practice law in the courts of West Virginia. A writ of error to that judgment was denied by this Court.
In the instant proceeding The Charleston Bar Association, Cullen G. Hall, president of said association, and the West Virginia State Bar appeared to the petition. The West Virginia State Bar demurred to the petition on the grounds that: (a) The order of the Circuit Court of Kanawha County is final, and that no new license can be granted; (b) there is no allegation in the petition that the Circuit Court of Fayette County has found petitioner to be a person of good moral character; and (c) there are no rules prescribed by this Court for reinstatement of a license to practice law.
The West Virginia State Bar also answered the petition alleging facts which, if true, would tend to show that the petitioner is not a person of good moral character. The Charleston Bar Association and Cullen G. Hall likewise filed a joint and separate answer, alleging similar facts. The answers so filed are accompanied by copies of certain court proceedings, including a conviction of petitioner of a criminal charge involving gross moral turpitude, had in the Circuit Courts of Kanawha and Fayette Counties, as well as affidavits of the Honorable H. E. Dillon, former Judge of the Circuit Court of Fayette County, and of the Honorable R. J. Thrift, Jr., the present Judge of said court.
The petitioner filed his replication, alleging that he is a person of good moral character, and attempted to explain the various factual allegations made in the answers above mentioned. In support of his petition and replication, petitioner filed: A copy of his contract with J. William Hall; copies of the orders entered in the proceedings in the Circuit Court of Kanawha County; a purported release of his liability to the said Hall; the license granted by this Court on September 18, 1928; and diplomas from the Blackstone Institute and Cumberland University. He also filed numerous letters from attorneys and other persons, who allegedly are acquainted with him, and a petition signed by divers persons, which, in effect, states that the various charges against petitioner are groundless, and that he is honest and a person of good moral character.
As is indicated by the pleadings and exhibits...
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