Hightower v. State Bar, 31664

• Decision Date: 25 July 1983
• Docket Number: No. 31664,31664
• Citation: 193 Cal.Rptr. 153,666 P.2d 10,34 Cal.3d 150
• Parties: , 666 P.2d 10 George Willis HIGHTOWER, Petitioner, v. The STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA, Respondent. L.A.
• Court: California Supreme Court

Page 153

193 Cal.Rptr. 153

34 Cal.3d 150, 666 P.2d 10

George Willis HIGHTOWER, Petitioner, v. The STATE BAR OF CALIFORNIA, Respondent.

L.A. No. 31664.

Supreme Court of California.

July 25, 1983.

Gordon Hunt and Munns, Kofford, Hoffman, Hunt & Throckmorton, Pasadena, for petitioner.

Robert McMahon, Los Angeles, amicus curiae on behalf of petitioner.

Herbert R. Rosenthal, Susan Mahony-St. Clair, Truitt A. Richey, Jr., San Francisco, and Robert M. Sweet, Los Angeles, for respondent.

BY THE COURT:

The Committee of Bar Examiners has twice refused to certify petitioner for admission to practice law for want of good moral character. (Bus. & Prof.Code, §§ 6060, 6062; Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law, rule X.) Although he did not challenge the committee's findings and conclusions in the first refusal, he seeks review of the second.

Petitioner attended the University of West Los Angeles College of Law at night and worked full-time during the day. He received his J.D. degree in June 1976. In February 1979, he passed the bar examination on his seventh attempt.

In June 1979, the State Bar notified petitioner that it would conduct an inquiry into his moral character and fitness. Several hearings were held before a hearing panel involving a number of witnesses. The hearing panel concluded that after graduating from law school but before he passed the bar, he engaged in the unlawful practice of law on three occasions.

The hearing panel recommended that petitioner be denied admission, and he did not seek review of the recommendation, which became conclusive. (Rules Regulating Admission to Practice Law, rule X, § 103(a).)

Having waited the requisite two-year period (id., § 104(a)), petitioner again sought admission. The Committee of Bar Examiners did not appoint a hearing panel but notified petitioner that it would hold a hearing, that oral argument would be limited to 15 minutes for each side with 5 minutes for rebuttal, and that he would be permitted to make a statement under oath, but that the total time limit would be 20 minutes for him and his counsel. There was no provision for testimony by witnesses. At the hearing petitioner chose to respond to the committee's questions and did not make a statement.

I. THE 1979 HEARINGS

A number of petitioner's fellow employees, friends, and relatives appeared and testified as to his honesty, integrity, industriousness, sincerity, and good moral character. Evidence was also presented as to three incidents where he practiced law.

In 1976, he prepared a petition for dissolution of marriage for his friend, Mrs. Gaiter. He prepared interrogatories, represented Mrs. Gaiter on an order to show cause providing oral argument to the court, and argued a motion to compel answers. He prepared a financial declaration indicating that Mrs. Gaiter paid Mr. Becks, an attorney, $75 for fees and $25 for costs, and had Mrs. Gaiter sign the statement under penalty of perjury. Becks was listed as the attorney for Mrs. Gaiter with petitioner's address and phone number on the documents, and petitioner signed Becks' name to several of the documents.

Becks testified that the documents were prepared without his knowledge or consent. Petitioner testified that he had worked for Becks, one of his law school instructors, doing research and investigations, that Becks had agreed to sponsor him in the State Bar Practical Training of Law Students' program and that although he intended to formally enroll in the intern program, he never applied. According to petitioner, Becks reviewed the documents and discussed the court appearances with him. He admitted signing Becks' name, claiming that Becks had authorized him to sign when he was not available. The hearing panel found in accordance with Becks' testimony that he was unaware of petitioner's actions and did not consent to use of his name.

In the fall of 1977, Mr. Garner approached petitioner with regard to a complaint served upon him for property damage resulting from an automobile accident. Petitioner filed an answer, listing Ms. Gentile as attorney of record and signing her name to the answer with his address and phone number. Ms. Gentile, an attorney, denied that she was aware of the filing or that she consented to the use of her signature. When she learned in 1979 of these actions, one day before the scheduled trial, she obtained a continuance and was relieved by the court as counsel of record. A default judgment was subsequently entered for $3,817.90.

Petitioner testified that he and Ms. Gentile were friends and study partners in law school, that they participated in a California Youth Authority Project, that they had considered becoming partners upon his admission, that she looked over his draft of the pleading and suggested changes, and that she gave him an exemplar of her signature to use in signing the answer when it was redrafted. When she withdrew from the case, he secured another counsel, Mr. Sands, to represent the Garners, and the other attorney permitted the case to go by default. The hearing panel found that petitioner had signed Ms. Gentile's name to the answer without her knowledge or consent.

In the third incident involving unauthorized practice of law, petitioner prepared an unlawful detainer complaint listing the plaintiff as representing himself in pro. per with petitioner's address and phone number. During a hearing, the trial judge asked whether plaintiff was a licensed attorney, and petitioner indicated he was. However, the judge asked him for his card, and he admitted he was not licensed. Petitioner was sentenced to four days in jail for contempt. Petitioner testified that he went to the courtroom to offer support to the 71-year-old plaintiff who was afraid. The plaintiff knew he was not an attorney, and in going to the courtroom petitioner had no intention to try the case. When the case was called, he saw his friend was upset and went with him into the counsel area. The judge then asked whether he was an attorney, and he answered affirmatively. He freely admitted that he knew his actions were wrong.

II. THE 1980 HEARING

In a State Bar interoffice memorandum reporting on petitioner's second application, an investigator reported that petitioner "is still fighting the findings, and rationalizing his conduct. It would seem that [petitioner] still does not adequately understand nor comprehend the nature of his actions."

At the hearing petitioner was the only witness to testify. In response to questions, he maintained that he had been authorized to sign Mr. Becks' and Ms. Gentile's signatures, that he had not received any compensation in the three matters, and that his purpose was to learn the practice of law to help him in the bar examination. When asked why the two attorneys had denied authorizing his actions, he said that "they denied it because they knew their authorization was wrong and they wanted to avoid the responsibility." He stated that he made serious mistakes of judgment, that he knew it was wrong for a person who was not a lawyer to hold himself out as a lawyer, and that it was improper to sign an attorney's name to a document. Since the three prior incidents, he has not engaged in any activity constituting unauthorized practice of law.

The committee determined that petitioner had not demonstrated and does not possess the requisite good moral character. The committee did not make specific findings as to the basis of its determination.

III. DISCUSSION

The burden of proving good moral character is upon the applicant. "Pursuant to this rule the applicant must initially furnish enough evidence of good moral character to establish a prima facie case, and the committee then has the opportunity to rebut that showing with evidence of bad character. (Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, 366 U.S. 36, 41 [81 S.Ct. 997, 1002, 6 L.Ed.2d 105].)" (Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners (1966) 65 Cal.2d 447, 449, fn. 1, 55 Cal.Rptr. 228, 421 P.2d 76; Hall v. Committee of Bar Examiners (1979) 25 Cal.3d 730, 734, 159 Cal.Rptr. 848, 602 P.2d 768; Bernstein v. Committee of Bar Examiners (1968) 69 Cal.2d 90, 95, 70 Cal.Rptr. 106, 443 P.2d 570.)

On review great weight is given to the committee's findings, but they are not binding on us. Petitioner bears the burden of showing that the findings are not supported by the evidence or that the committee's action is erroneous. We examine the evidence and make our own determination as to its sufficiency, resolving reasonable doubts in favor of petitioner. (Bernstein v. Committee of Bar Examiners, supra 69 Cal.2d 90, 97, 70 Cal.Rptr. 106, 443 P.2d 570; Hallinan v. Committee of Bar Examiners, supra, 65 Cal.2d 447,...