In re Dorsey

• Decision Date: 12 May 2022
• Docket Number: 22-BG-171
• Citation: 274 A.3d 316
• Parties: IN RE J.B. DORSEY, III, Respondent. A Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Bar Registration No. 265181)
• Court: D.C. Court of Appeals

274 A.3d 316

IN RE J.B. DORSEY, III, Respondent. A Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Bar Registration No. 265181)

No. 22-BG-171

District of Columbia Court of Appeals.

Decided May 12, 2022

Per Curiam¹ :

In this disciplinary matter, a Hearing Committee of the Board on Professional Responsibility recommends approval of negotiated attorney discipline. See D.C. Bar R. XI, § 12.1(c). Respondent, J.B. Dorsey III, voluntarily acknowledges that he failed to maintain complete records of his handling of entrusted funds. Specifically, Mr. Dorsey acknowledges that he was unable to explain the discrepancies in his accounting of entrusted client funds and his bank's accounting of the same funds. Mr. Dorsey admits that he therefore violated D.C. R. Prof. Conduct 1.15(a) (record-keeping). Mr. Dorsey and Disciplinary Counsel agree that he should be publicly censured and subject to a one-year period of unsupervised probation with conditions.

This court reviews a Committee's recommendation for approval of a petition for negotiated discipline "in accordance with its procedures for the imposition of uncontested discipline." D.C. Bar R. XI, § 12.1(d). Under those procedures, "if no exceptions are filed to the Board's report, the [c]ourt will enter an order imposing the discipline recommended by the Board upon the expiration of the time permitted for filing exceptions." D.C. Bar R. XI, § 9(h)(2). "This rule is not absolute—we would not impose discipline that is clearly against the law or the public interest, for example, merely because no party took exception to it ...." In re Stephens , 247 A.3d 698, 701 (D.C. 2021) (per curiam). Nevertheless, if "there are no exceptions to the Board's report and recommendation, our deferential standard of review becomes even more deferential." In re Viehe , 762 A.2d 542, 543 (D.C. 2000) (per curiam).

Here, we discern no grounds to question the recommended negotiated sanction. Accordingly, it is

ORDERED that J.B. Dorsey III is hereby publicly censured and shall serve a one-year period of unsupervised probation subject to the following agreed upon conditions. Mr. Dorsey must:

(a) not be the subject of a disciplinary complaint that results in a finding that he violated the disciplinary rules of any jurisdiction in which he is licensed to practice during the probationary period; (b) take the new admittees[’] continuing legal education (CLE) course, and provide Disciplinary Counsel proof of attendance at the CLE within 30

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