In re Hodge
Decision Date | 29 December 2017 |
Docket Number | No. 116,542,116,542 |
Citation | 407 P.3d 613,307 Kan. 170 |
Parties | In the MATTER OF Rickey Edward HODGE, Jr., Respondent. |
Court | Kansas Supreme Court |
Deborah L. Hughes, Deputy Disciplinary Administrator, argued the cause, and Stanton A. Hazlett, Disciplinary Administrator, was with her on the brief for petitioner.
Charles Davant IV, of Williams & Connolly LLP, of Washington, D.C., argued the cause, and John K. Villa, of the same firm, and G. Craig Robinson, of Wichita, were with him on the briefs for respondent. Rickey Edward Hodge, Jr., respondent, argued the cause pro-se.
This is a contested attorney discipline proceeding against Rickey Edward Hodge, Jr., who was admitted to practice law in Kansas in September 2008. A panel of the Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys made lengthy findings of fact and concluded Hodge violated the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct (KRPC) while representing a financially distressed Wichita-based landscaping company. Highly summarized, Hodge attempted to purchase the company's assets, as well as an 80-acre ranch held by the company's majority shareholder. The accusations involve conflict of interest, client exploitation, and self-dealing.
After five days of hearings, spread out between October 2015 and March 2016, the panel unanimously determined that Hodge violated KRPC 1.7 (2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 300) ( ); 1.8(a) (2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 307) ( ), and 1.8(b) ( ); 4.2 (2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 353) (communication with person represented by counsel); and 8.4(g) (2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 379) ( ). The panel unanimously recommended Hodge be disbarred.
Before this court, the Disciplinary Administrator's office endorses the panel's findings and recommends disbarment. Hodge takes exceptions to the panel's findings, as well as to the recommended discipline. We hold that clear and convincing evidence establishes multiple instances of attorney misconduct and agree disbarment is appropriate.
On July 15, 2014, the Disciplinary Administrator's office filed a formal complaint against Hodge. On August 15, 2014, Hodge filed an answer to the formal complaint, admitting many factual allegations while denying the alleged KRPC violations.
The panel conducted hearings on October 20, 2015, December 7, 2015, December 8, 2015, March 3, 2016, and March 4, 2016. Hodge appeared in person and with counsel. After the hearings concluded, the panel issued a 65-page Final Hearing Report, making the following findings of fact and conclusions of law, together with its recommendation for discipline:
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In re Jordan
...interference with the administration of justice" indicate a "lack of those characteristics relevant to law practice." In re Hodge , 307 Kan. 170, 229, 407 P.3d 613 (2017) (quoting KRPC 8.4, cmt. 2 [2017 Kan. S. Ct. R. 380]). Here, the record shows Jordan repeatedly filed motions with frivol......
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...Without argument on this point, Crandall has abandoned any argument that the hearing panel's ruling was erroneous. See In re Hodge , 307 Kan. 170, 216, 407 P.3d 613 (2017).We do not reach the merits of Crandall's arguments about the failure to admit the investigators' reports because he fai......
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...and convincing evidence, it will not be disturbed.’ " In re Ayesh , 313 Kan. 441, 464, 485 P.3d 1155 (2021) (quoting In re Hodge , 307 Kan. 170, 209-10, 407 P.3d 613 [2017] ). However, we are not bound by the Disciplinary Administrator's or the hearing panel's recommendations. In re Kupka ,......
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In re Steele
...addressing application of substantially similar versions of Rule 4.2 to self-represented attorneys. See Matter of Hodge , 307 Kan. 170, 407 P.3d 613, 654-55 (2017) ; Medina Cty. Bar Ass'n v. Cameron , 130 Ohio St.3d 299, 958 N.E.2d 138, 140-41 & n.1 (Ohio 2011) ; In re Disciplinary Proceedi......
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...and Fellows of Harvard College, 764 N.E.2d 825 (Mass. 2002)(rule "protects clients from other people's lawyers"). [4] In re Hodge, 307 Kan. 170, 206, 407 P3d 613 (2017)("The respondent directly communicated with the principals of CLS advising them to ignore their attorney's specific advice"......
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Friends and Lovers: Conflicts of Interest and New Aba Opinion on Relationships Between Opposing Counsel
...8.4(a), KRPC. [26] Kansas Supreme Court Rule 202. [27] In re Crandall, 308 Kan. 1526, 1558, 430 P.3d 902 (2018). See also, In re Hodge, 307 Kan. 170, 204, 407 P.2d 613 (2017)(lawyer disbarred for, inter alia, violating Rule 1.7). [28] See,e.g., Petition of Hoang, 245 Kan. 560, 566, 781 P.2d......
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Friends and Lovers: Conflicts of Interest and New Aba Opinion
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Substance and Style
...Lee, Welcome, Singular They, APA Style Blog (Oct. 31, 2019), https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/singular-they. [20] See, e.g., Matter of Hodge, 307 Kan. 170, 407 P3d 613 (2017) (using text exchanges between attorney and client as part of evidence of attorney's misconduct); Doe v. Western New Eng......