Matter of Peterson
| Citation | 274 NW 2d 922 |
| Decision Date | 05 February 1979 |
| Docket Number | No. 37947.,37947. |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Application for the Reinstatement of Gordon Clinton PETERSON, also known as Gordon C. Peterson, as an Attorney at Law of the State of Minnesota. |
| Court | Supreme Court of Minnesota (US) |
R. Walter Bachman, Jr., Administrative Director of Professional Conduct, Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board, St. Paul, for respondent.
Erwin Peterson, Minneapolis, for petitioner.
Considered and decided by the court en banc.
Petition for reinstatement brought by disbarred attorney Gordon C. Peterson. Since the petition was filed August 7, 1974, Petitioner has had three evidentiary hearings. The first, before the Hennepin County Bar Association Ethics Committee on August 23, 1974, resulted in the finding of an objection by the committee to the reinstatement of Petitioner on the ground that he failed to establish the required moral change by clear and convincing evidence.
A second hearing was held on November 27, 1974, before the administrative director of the State Board of Professional Responsibility, who was authorized by the Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility to investigate the matter and report his findings to the Board of Professional Responsibility and this court. On January 3, 1975, the director's report was filed, recommending that the petition for reinstatement be denied.
On February 20, 1978, Petitioner requested a formal judicial hearing. This court appointed Judge Thomas G. Forsberg as referee to receive relevant evidence, make appropriate findings, and submit recommendations to this court on the Petitioner's fitness to practice law in the light of the offenses for which he was originally disbarred and his behavior subsequent to the time of the disbarment. A hearing was held on April 12 and 13, 1978. At that time, Petitioner also put into evidence the transcript from the hearing before the administrative director. Subsequently, the referee filed with this court comprehensive findings of fact, conclusions, and a recommendation that the petition for reinstatement be denied. We have examined the evidence, have heard oral argument, and after careful consideration, are persuaded that the petition for reinstatement must be denied.
Petitioner was disbarred on June 23, 1961 on two counts of unprofessional conduct. In re Application for Discipline of Peterson, 260 Minn. 339, 110 N.W.2d 9 (1961). First, it was found that he had forged a criminal information containing a fictitious charge with which he induced a client to pay him a retainer of $1,000. Second, it was found that he had failed to account for the proceeds of a sale of property he had negotiated for a client confined in state prison.
Since his disbarment Petitioner has sought reinstatement four times, withdrawing one petition voluntarily in July of 1965. Twice this court has denied reinstatement: In re Application for Reinstatement of Peterson, 275 Minn. 559, 146 N.W.2d 768 (1968); In re Application for Reinstatement of Peterson, 288 Minn. 550, 181 N.W.2d 341 (1970).
Petitioner now contends that he has shown good moral character and sufficient rehabilitation to warrant his reinstatement as a licensed attorney. Since disbarment Petitioner has been employed in several businesses primarily involving sales. He has been active in his church and in his golf club. Nine character witnesses testified on his behalf before the referee. Several of those witnesses testified that Petitioner has always been of good moral character. No evidence was presented to the referee showing Petitioner to be unrespected, distrusted, or disliked in his social or business relationships.
Considerable evidence was presented bearing on Petitioner's professional integrity and activity in the area of law. Petitioner testified that since disbarment he has continued to identify himself as an attorney. Subsequent to disbarment he had business cards printed identifying himself as an attorney, which he distributed incidental to his sales activities. He did not discontinue this practice until 1975, and at the April 1978 hearings he testified that he still does not think it was wrong.
Petitioner continues to introduce himself as an attorney. At the referee's hearing, Petitioner admitted he had testified in his December 3, 1976 deposition, In the Matter of Gordon C. Peterson v. Robert J. Sheran, et al., in Minnesota federal district court, "Counsel, until I die I will represent myself as a lawyer." Petitioner also testified before the referee that he had identified himself as an attorney to an Ohio judge who was visiting Minnesota, but he did not tell the judge he was disbarred. This testimony conflicted with his testimony before the administrative director in 1974 that he had told the judge he was disbarred.
Furthermore, Petitioner was listed as an attorney in the published roster of his golf club in 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975. Before the administrative director, Petitioner testified that he had listed himself as an attorney in the roster to make himself feel better, but before the referee, he denied having permitted the listings. In rosters published after 1975, the identification as attorney no longer appeared.
In the 1972 Minneapolis telephone directories, Petitioner was listed as an attorney in its white and yellow pages. At his deposition on December 3, 1976, Petitioner testified that he listed himself as an attorney in the yellow pages because he was confident that his petition for reinstatement would be granted. However, a telephone company representative testified that the listing was made in September or October of 1971. The petition was denied nearly a year earlier on November 6, 1970. Although Petitioner did not deny his earlier testimony at the hearing before the referee, he added that someone had just told him another disbarred attorney had made the listing in Petitioner's name. The listing appeared until Petitioner was confronted with it by the Minnesota State Bar Association.
Since the filing of this petition, Petitioner has performed the acts of an attorney with unfortunate consequences. On November 20, 1974, Thomas Stockheimer, who was indicted in federal district court in Wisconsin for assaulting a federal officer, filed a motion for an order to allow Petitioner to act as Stockheimer's counsel and spokesman in the upcoming trial. Petitioner also filed three other motions in identical form with respect to three other defendants in separate actions involving false income tax statements. These motions were signed by Petitioner just five and two days prior to the hearing on this petition for reinstatement before the administrative director. However, he did not disclose this activity to the administrative director.
The federal district court granted Petitioner's motions, noting that this conclusion would have been the same had Petitioner been a "carpenter or a farmer." However, he warned Petitioner and another disbarred Minnesota attorney in his Order of December 4, 1974:
Of special significance to this court is the observation made by the federal court after extensive examination of Petitioner's qualifications:
"Quite apart from the fact that he is not presently licensed to practice law, he is not presently professionally qualified to serve effectively as an attorney for a defendant in a criminal case."
In spite of the federal court's admonitions, Petitioner participated in all four trials. With respect to the Stockheimer case, Petitioner performed the usual services of an attorney during the three-day trial. He sat at counsel table, conferred with Stockheimer, addressed the jury, argued motions, participated in side bar conferences and conferences in chambers, examined and cross-examined witnesses, and participated in the conference on instructions. Stockheimer was convicted and appealed to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on the ground that it was plain error for the federal judge to have permitted Petitioner to represent him; the Seventh Circuit Court affirmed Stockheimer's conviction. United States v. Stockheimer, 385 F.Supp. 979 (W.D.Wis.1974), aff'd 534 F.2d 331 (7 Cir. 1976), cert. den. 429 U.S. 966, 97 S.Ct. 397, 50 L.Ed.2d 335 (1976). In an unpublished opinion the Court held that Stockheimer could not be heard to complain about the consequences where the representation of a disbarred attorney was at his request. See, United States v. Peterson, 550 F.2d 379, 381 (7 Cir. 1977).
On March 26, 1975, Petitioner was indicted in the United States District Court, Western District of Wisconsin, upon the allegation that he had practiced law in violation of Wisc. St. 256.30, subd. 1, 2, and the "Assimilated Crimes Act," 18 U.S.C. §§ 7, 13, and was found guilty by a federal jury of the offense of practicing law without a license on United States property. Petitioner was thereafter sentenced to 30 days in jail; the sentence was stayed pending appeal.
On appeal, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Petitioner's conviction on the narrow ground that the Federal Assimilated Crimes Act was not intended to be applied for alleged acts of unauthorized practice of law committed in a federal courtroom. However, the Court found the evidence clear that Petitioner had performed as an attorney and noted that it did not intend to imply that unauthorized practice of law would be sanctioned in the Seventh Circuit. United States v. Peterson, 550 F.2d 379, 381, 385 (7 Cir. 1977).
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