Murray, Matter of

• Decision Date: 01 September 1987
• Docket Number: No. 14,14
• Citation: 316 Md. 303,558 A.2d 710
• Parties: In the Matter of the Reinstatement of Richard C. MURRAY. Misc. (Subtitle BV),
• Court: Maryland Court of Appeals

Page 303

316 Md. 303

558 A.2d 710

In the Matter of the Reinstatement of Richard C. MURRAY.

Misc. (Subtitle BV) No. 14, Sept. Term, 1987.

Court of Appeals of Maryland.

June 7, 1989.

Robert E. Cahill, Sr., Baltimore, for petitioner.

No argument on behalf of respondent.

Argued before MURPHY, C.J., and ELDRIDGE, COLE, RODOWSKY, McAULIFFE, ADKINS and BLACKWELL, JJ.

ADKINS, Judge.

On 22 April 1977, Richard C. Murray was disbarred by consent. Md. Rule BV12 d. He now seeks reinstatement to the Bar. Md. Rule BV14. Pursuant to Rule BV14 d 2, Bar Counsel conducted an investigation. Thereafter, Murray's petition was "heard and determined by the Inquiry Panel" and "reviewed by the Review Board...." Id. Both of those bodies unanimously recommended reinstatement.

We first enunciated criteria for reinstatement after disbarment in In re Meyerson, 190 Md. 671, 59 A.2d 489 (1948), reaffirmed them in Maryland St. Bar Ass'n v. Boone, 255 Md. 420, 258 A.2d 438 (1969), crystallized them in In re Braverman, 271 Md. 196, 199-200, 316 A.2d 246, 247 (1974), and restated them most recently in Matter of Cory, 300 Md. 177, 180, 477 A.2d 273, 274 (1984). The criteria are not difficult to state.

Disbarment "does not in all circumstances forever prevent reinstatement...." Meyerson, 190 Md. at 676, 59 A.2d at 491. "There may be a point in time when it is proper to reinstate to the practice of law even one who has committed a most heinous crime." In re Raimondi and Dippel, 285 Md. 607, 617, 403 A.2d 1234, 1239 (1979), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 1033, 100 S.Ct. 705, 62 L.Ed.2d 669 (1980). The fundamental inquiry is " 'whether, in the interval following the rendering of the judgment of removal, the petitioner has become a proper person to hold such office.' " Meyerson, 190 Md. at 677, 59 A.2d at 491 (quoting In re Keenan, 310 Mass. 166, 170, 37 N.E.2d 516, 519 (1941). "We ... look probingly at any reapplication alleging reform, rehabilitation and competence" because, although "[w]e continue to believe that a fallen lawyer may rise again," we permit reinstatement "only after a clear and demonstrated change from what he was before." In re Barton, 291 Md. 61, 64, 432 A.2d 1335, 1336 (1981) (Barton II ). In other words, "while disbarment does not necessarily operate as a permanent disability, it may only be overcome by a clear and convincing showing of rehabilitation and of legal competence, borne out by an applicant's conduct over a long period of time." Id. at 67, 432 A.2d at 1338. See Cory, supra, 300 Md. at 180, 477 A.2d at 274.

More specifically, the essential factors to be evaluated include:

1. The nature and circumstances of petitioner's original misconduct.

2. Petitioner's subsequent conduct and reformation.

3. His or her present character.

4. His or her present qualifications and competence to practice law.

See Braverman, 271 Md. 196, 199-200, 316 A.2d 246, 247 (1974). We examine these factors to determine "whether this Court can be assured that the public can rely on the competence and integrity of the previously disbarred attorney." In re Barton, 273 Md. 377, 381, 329 A.2d 102, 105 (1974) (Barton I ). See In re Loker, 285 Md. 645, 649-651, 403 A.2d 1269, 1271-1272 (1979); Dippel, supra, 285 Md. at 617, 403 A.2d at 1239. And in doing so, we keep in mind that "the more serious the original misconduct was, the heavier is the burden to prove present fitness for readmission to the bar." Barton I, 273 Md. at 380, 329 A.2d at 104. We now proceed to apply these standards to the facts before us. ¹

I. Nature and Circumstances of Original Misconduct

Murray was admitted to the Bar of this Court on 13 November 1952. By 1971, he had become (in the Review Board's words) "a well-respected, competent attorney" and a partner in the Baltimore County firm then known as Cook, Murray, Howard, Downes & Tracy. In the year last-mentioned, Murray was representing Elizabeth Jessop, widow of Holmes C. Jessop, and personal representative of her late husband's estate. On or about 27 October 1971, Mrs. Jessop delivered to Murray a check in the amount of $10,000, drawn on the estate, signed by her as personal representative, and payable to Murray. It seems that this check represented money payable to the Mayor and City council of Baltimore. As the Review Board found, Murray "appropriated the $10,000 check to his own use by depositing the check in his personal account in the First National Bank of Maryland...." He used the funds for personal purposes, mostly to pay overdue income taxes. He never disclosed the misappropriation to Mrs. Jessop, or to the person who became successor personal representative after Mrs. Jessop died on 24 December 1971.

In 1976, Murray was still a partner in the Cook firm. He was co-personal representative of the estate of Louis J. Appel. On or about 27 October of that year, Murray forged the other personal representative's name to two estate checks, one for $1,000 and one for $9,000, and deposited them in his (Murray's) personal account. Murray used this money to pay overdue income taxes.

A partner in the Cook firm inadvertently discovered the misappropriations in 1977. When Murray was confronted with the facts, he immediately admitted his guilt in both transactions and, as we have recounted, forthwith consented to disbarment.

Thereafter, he pled guilty to counts of forgery and misappropriation of funds. He was sentenced to incarceration for three years, suspended in favor of probation for a like period, subject to a condition that he pay $2,000 in court costs. Later, on 20 October 1977, the Circuit Court for Baltimore County struck out the guilty finding and imposed probation before judgment. The court terminated probation on 3 May 1979.

These are the bare facts of the transgressions that resulted in Murray's disbarment. We next examine the circumstances surrounding those misdeeds.

Murray's own account is that he let family finances get out of hand. Unwilling to admit to his wife that his respectable but modest earnings could not finance such things as private schooling for their two children, he failed to pay estimated taxes, allowing tax liabilities to accumulate until they became so pressing that on the two occasions mentioned, he resorted to stealing to satisfy the tax collector. As Dr. Jonas Rappeport ² put it, Murray "was unable to admit to his wife that he could not earn the reasonable income they required and that he could not face his partners with his problems." ³ During this period of stress, Murray indulged in increasingly heavy drinking. He has never claimed, however, any causal connection between the drinking and his misconduct.

The Review Board found that Murray, "in order to maintain an established lifestyle, which was not extravagant, permitted false pride to overwhelm better judgment and rather than approach his wife or ... friends with his personal problems, resorted to ... misappropriation." Nevertheless, it also found that Murray's "misconduct and the circumstances surrounding [it] were egregious...." We agree. "[M]isappropriation by an attorney of funds of others entrusted to his care, be the amount small or large, is of great concern and represents the gravest form of professional misconduct." In re Loker, 285 Md. 645, 651, 403 A.2d 1269, 1272 (1979). See Attorney Griev. Comm'n v. Ezrin, 312 Md. 603, 608-609, 541 A.2d 966, 969 (1988); Attorney Griev. Comm'n v. Bloom, 306 Md. 609, 611, 510 A.2d 589, 590 (1986); Barton I, supra, 273 Md. at 380, 329 A.2d at 104.

Loker involved a lawyer who was disbarred in 1970. He had been convicted of embezzlement and larceny from Leonardtown, of which municipality he had been an official. The defalcations apparently occurred over a period of 12 years or more and involved almost $98,000. 285 Md. at 646, 403 A.2d at 1269. In 1979, we declined to reinstate Loker, pointing out, among other things, that

[t]his was no isolated incident.... [I]t was spread over a number of years and included a substantial sum of money.

Id. at 651-652, 403 A.2d at 1272. In fact, Loker controlled the books and accounts of Leonardtown; he was the town's treasurer, clerk, and attorney, and managed the town's affairs from his law office. Loker v. State, 2 Md.App. 1, 16-19, 233 A.2d 342, 352-354 (1967), aff'd, 250 Md. 677, 245 A.2d 814 (1968), cert. denied, 393 U.S. 1082, 89 S.Ct. 862, 21 L.Ed.2d 774 (1969). Taking advantage of these positions of trust, he schemed to take the town's money over a long period of years.

Another case involving deliberate scheming is that of Francis X. Dippel, reported as In re Raimondi and Dippel, supra. ⁴ Dippel was disbarred in 1963 and sought reinstatement in 1979. He had been convicted, on guilty pleas, of six counts of embezzlement and served about 21 months in the Maryland Penitentiary. Dippel, 285 Md. at 611, 403 A.2d at 1236.

Dippel's convictions and disbarment were

precipitated by investigations ... concerning a scheme devised by [Dippel] and an accomplice ... who was also a member of the Maryland Bar, whereby they would file documents with the Orphans' Court of Baltimore City to gain control of estates of deceased resident aliens, then divest the estates of all capital assets to their own use.... The scheme included in some cases the preparation of forged Wills leaving substantial parts of the estate to fictitious heirs, the payment of fictitious claims, and the filing of spurious and false documents.

Id. at 610-611, 403 A.2d at 1236 (quoting findings of the Inquiry Panel) [brackets in opinion]. Dippel's activities affected six estates and transferred over $71,000 from those estates to him and his accomplice. Id. at 611, 403 A.2d at 1236.

We characterized Dippel's conduct thus:

... Dippel made use of his legal training and knowledge to steal from certain estates. Without any apparent reason other than sheer greed, Dippel engaged in a calculated campaign of theft. [He was earning over $80,000 a year in terms of 1979 dollars.] Thus, greed alone...