Jaffee, Application of

• Decision Date: 16 June 1994
• Citation: 874 P.2d 1299,319 Or. 172
• Parties: In the Matter of the Application of Kenneth Miles JAFFEE, for Admission to the Bar of the State of Oregon, Applicant. SC S35948.
• Court: Oregon Supreme Court

Page 1299

874 P.2d 1299

319 Or. 172

In the Matter of the Application of Kenneth Miles JAFFEE for Admission to the Bar of the State of Oregon, Applicant.

SC S35948.

Supreme Court of Oregon.

Submitted on Record and Briefs Sept. 23, 1993.

Decided June 16, 1994.

[319 Or. 173] Kenneth Miles Jaffee, pro se.

Jeffrey D. Sapiro, Oregon State Bar, Lake Oswego, filed the brief for Bd. of Bar Examiners.

Before CARSON, C.J., and PETERSON, ^* GILLETTE, VAN HOOMISSEN, FADELEY, UNIS and GRABER, JJ.

PER CURIAM

This is a contested bar admission case in which the issue is whether applicant Kenneth Miles Jaffee (applicant) should be admitted to the Oregon State Bar (Bar). We admit applicant to practice.

Applicant is a graduate of the McGeorge School of Law, an attorney admitted to the practice of law in California, and has passed the necessary examinations for admission to practice in Oregon. The question of his admission to practice in Oregon has been before this court once before. In In re Jaffee, 311 Or. 159, 164-65, 806 P.2d 685 (1991), this court denied applicant admission to the Bar on the ground that five years had not yet elapsed since applicant had committed acts that, had they been committed by an active member of the Bar, likely would have led to that person's disbarment. More than five years have now passed, and applicant has reapplied for admission. Although the then-members of the Oregon Board of Bar Examiners (the Board) recommended applicant's admission when the case previously was before this court, the present Board, by a split vote, has recommended that applicant not be admitted.

Because it serves as an excellent predicate for our discussion of the issues in the present case, we quote at length from the statement of procedural and factual history in our former opinion:

"Applicant passed the Oregon State Bar examination in July 1988 and had earlier passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination. After a hearing in November 1988, the Oregon Board of Bar Examiners, by a split vote, did not recommend his admission. Applicant did not seek review of that decision in this court.

"[Applicant] reapplied in 1990. On August 28, 1990, after another hearing, the Board recommended his admission by a vote of ten to two. We initially denied his admission by an order dated September 18, 1990, without receiving written or oral arguments. Thereafter, applicant petitioned for reconsideration before this court. * * * [This court thereafter] provided the same review as [it] would have if applicant had appealed an adverse recommendation by the Board. * * *

" * * * * *

"From 1975 to late 1982, applicant practiced law in Sacramento, California, in the field of criminal defense. In July 1986, he was suspended from practice for one year and placed on probation for one year, for neglect of client matters and unprofessional "Applicant's wife, who also was his sole employee, was murdered in September 1982. The crime has not been solved, but applicant believes that a former client was responsible. Following his wife's death, applicant moved to a rural area in southern Oregon. From late 1982 to late 1985, he was not employed; he used marijuana almost daily.

conduct, which had occurred in 1981 and 1982. Also while practicing in California, applicant served two days in jail for contempt, relating to his presentation of the defense in a criminal jury trial, and was, on another occasion, fined $50.

"In August 1985, law enforcement officers raided applicant's property pursuant to a search warrant. They found 143 marijuana plants, ranging in size from tiny seedlings to tall plants, in a garden plot and window box. Also found were scales, a needle kit, books concerning drugs, a few small plastic bags of dried marijuana, and numerous firearms. In December 1985, applicant was convicted of manufacture of a controlled substance, ORS 475.992(1)(a), a Class A felony. He had no prior criminal record, and no additional charges were brought as a result of the 1985 incident.

"Applicant was sentenced to community service and probation. He performed the community service at the Center for Non-Profit Legal Services, Inc., as a legal assistant. In July 1986, his probation was revoked for a threat of violence and for possession of firearms. He was sentenced to six months in jail and further probation. Applicant served the six months in jail. In March 1988, the circuit court granted an early termination of the extended probation.

"After applicant disclosed the conviction to the California State Bar, it instituted a disciplinary proceeding. Applicant agreed to all pertinent facts and cooperated in the disciplinary process. He stipulated to a six-month suspension from practice followed by two and one-half years of monitored probation. The California Supreme Court accepted the stipulation by order dated April 29, 1989. Applicant served the six-month suspension without incident and has complied with all aspects of the monitored probation, including quarterly reporting. If the probation is not violated, it will end on April 30, 1992.

"Applicant testified that he has not used drugs since the revocation of his probation in 1986. He described his incarceration as a turning point. After serving the jail sentence, in early 1987 he again became employed at the same legal services office as a legal assistant. At the time of the hearing, applicant remained in that position. His supervisor testified that applicant was committed to the legal services program and that he would be hired as a staff attorney there, if admitted. That also was applicant's desire. His supervisor and coworkers praised applicant's legal skills and rehabilitation and gave their unqualified recommendation for his admission.

"In addition, applicant became active in a nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation and counseling program that serves the Jackson County area, and became president of the organization's board of directors. The executive director of the program, a clinical psychologist, recommended applicant's admission without qualification. She praised his work with clients [of that program] and his leadership on the program's board. In her professional opinion, applicant's antisocial behavior after his wife's death, from 1982 to the incarceration in 1986, was an aberration that he would not repeat in the future."

Id. at 161-63, 806 P.2d 685 (footnote omitted).

Testimony at the hearing on applicant's most recent application for admission did not materially alter our understanding of any of the facts surrounding applicant's history. It does appear from the most recent record that applicant's public service activities have continued and, if anything, expanded. Applicant also has been able to resume close ties with his parents--a connection that was of some assistance both to applicant and his An applicant for admission to the Bar must show that he or she is a person of good moral character. ORS 9.220(2)(a). ¹ An applicant must prove that he has the requisite character by clear and convincing evidence. In re Rowell, 305 Or. 584, 588, 754 P.2d 905 (1988). That means that an applicant must show that it is "highly probable" that he has good moral character. In re Monaco, 317 Or. 366, 370 n. 4, 856 P.2d 311 (1993). Any significant doubts about an applicant's character should be resolved in favor of protecting the public by denying admission to the applicant. In re Easton, 298 Or. 365, 367-68, 692 P.2d 592 (1984) (citing In re Alpert, 269 Or. 508, 518, 525 P.2d 1042 (1974)), cert. den. 472 U.S. 1012, 105 S.Ct. 2711, 86 L.Ed.2d 726 (1985).

father during applicant's mother's long illness and death due to cancer. The parents had moved to the Medford area to be near applicant; applicant's father continues to reside there. As will appear, the Board does not seem to challenge applicant's general reformation or his good works. Its concern--to the extent that it has one--focuses on applicant's 1985 and 1986 behavior and, more specifically, on what applicant now says about that behavior.

Applicant acknowledges that his prior misconduct shows that, at the time of that misconduct, he lacked the good moral character and fitness to be admitted to the practice of law in Oregon. The crucial inquiry is whether, following that time, applicant has reformed sufficiently to warrant his admission to the Bar. In re Rowell, supra, 305 Or. at 588, 754 P.2d 905. This court spoke to the burden that this inquiry places on applicant when it said, in the course of its first opinion, that

"applicant may reapply for admission after July 23, 1991. Applicant thereafter must (as an applicant for reinstatement [after disbarment] would have to do) establish by clear and convincing evidence that he is rehabilitated and presently possesses the necessary good moral character for admission * * *."

In re Jaffee, supra, 311 Or. at 165, 806 P.2d 685.

As the Board acknowledges, "[r]eformation is a very difficult matter for a petitioner to prove and for [this court] to judge." In re Bernard Jolles, 235 Or. 262, 275, 383 P.2d 388 (1963). But reformation can be proved to this court's satisfaction, as this court's past decisions attest. See, e.g., In re Rowell, supra (illustrating proposition). As evidence of reformation, this court has looked to (1) character testimony from those who know and have had an opportunity to observe the applicant, In re Bernard Jolles, supra, 235 Or. at 275-76, 383 P.2d 388; (2) participation in activities that benefit society, In re Rowell, supra, 305 Or. at 591, 754 P.2d 905; and (3) an applicant's forthright acknowledgment of the wrongfulness of his or her past actions, In re Fine, 303 Or. 314, 736 P.2d 183 (1987).

The record in the present case is replete with examples of all three of the foregoing types of evidence of reformation. Coworkers who have known and worked with applicant for years attest to his good character and dedication to his work and to the clients whom ...