People v. Radinsky

• Citation: 176 Colo. 357,490 P.2d 951
• Decision Date: 15 November 1971
• Docket Number: Nos. 24058,25024,s. 24058
• Parties: The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado v. Albert Ellis RADINSKY, Attorney-Respondent.
• Court: Supreme Court of Colorado

Page 951

490 P.2d 951

176 Colo. 357

The PEOPLE of the State of Colorado v. Albert Ellis RADINSKY, Attorney-Respondent.

Nos. 24058, 25024.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

Nov. 15, 1971.

Duke W. Dunbar, Atty. Gen., John P. Moore, Deputy Atty. Gen., L. James Arthur, Asst. Atty. Gen., Denver, for the People.

Sherman, Quinn & Sherman, Edward H. Sherman, Denver, for attorney-respondent.

ERICKSON, Justice.

Disciplinary proceedings were instituted against the respondent, Albert Ellis Radinsky, who was licensed to practice law in Colorado on May 3, 1937. The respondent, following full hearings before the Grievance Committee of this Court, was directed to show cause why he should not be indefinitely suspended. He responded and objected to suspension. After reviewing the voluminous files which comprise the record that the Grievance Committee considered in reaching its conclusion of misconduct, we are of the opinion that the respondent, Albert Ellis Radinsky, should be indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in the State of Colorado.

Two very serious complaints were heard by the Grievance Committee of this Court. Both complaints were resolved against the respondent. The Committee recommended public censure in both instances. The Committee stated that if we had acted on the first complaint and had publicly censured the respondent, the Committee would have recommended suspension as to the second grievance.

Under C.R.C.P. 256, this Court can accept the recommendation of the Grievance Committee or may impose such other discipline as may be proper under the circumstances.

The foundation of the legal profession is honor. If acts of the type that the respondent has committed are not promptly and severely punished, the public will not have reason to trust lawyers that maintain the high standards of our profession. This Court has the inherent power, apart from rule or statute, as well as the duty, to suspend an attorney whose conduct tends to obstruct or impede the administration of justice. Gould v. State, 99 Fla. 662, 127 So. 309, 69 A.L.R. 699 (1930). Acts and conduct on the part of an attorney which establish that he is incapable of being trusted, when coupled with acts of dishonesty and deceit, render that person unworthy of public confidence and recognition by the courts. In re Wilson, 391 S.W.2d 914 (Mo.1965).

In taking his oath of office, the respondent agreed to abide by the following standard, among others:

'I will employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and will never seek to mislead the Judge or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law.'

C.R.C.P. 220.

Our most sacred duty is to maintain the integrity of the law profession by disciplining lawyers who indulge in practices which are designed to perpetrate a fraud on the courts. See Note, The Imposition of Disciplinary Measures for the Misconduct of Attorneys, 52 Col.L.Rev. 1041 (1951). Since a lawyer is an officer of the court, we cannot tolerate or allow fraud by a lawyer to go unpunished. To declare acts of the type which are before us to be unprofessional conduct would be to use the mildest of language. In re Reynolds, 32 Ill.2d 331, 205 N.E.2d 429 (1965); People ex rel. Colorado Bar Association v. McCann, 80 Colo. 220, 249 P. 1093 (1926).

I.

The broad statements of principle that have preceded our factual statement were necessary in the light of the respondent's opprobrious conduct to show our reason for condemning his acts in the strongest language.

Directing our attention to the first Grievance Committee Report, we find that in six different cases, the respondent perpetrated a fraud upon the court in his use of a general assignment for the benefit of creditors. In all six cases, the respondent served as the assignee and in that capacity obtained an assignment of all of the debtor's property. Purportedly, the assets were received for the general benefit of all creditors. An analysis of the documents that were filed with the court, pursuant to the applicable provisions of the Colorado Revised Statutes, reveals that they were either false or were at best misleading. The Grievance Committee found that the respondent either prepared the documents in question or had full knowledge of their contents. Based upon the false and misleading nature of these documents and the respondent's conduct in connection with these so-called assignments for the benefit of creditors, the Committee concluded that the respondent had knowingly misled the various courts which were involved.

Apart from his position as a lawyer, under the statute, the respondent was an officer of the court and responsible for an accounting to the court, the debtors, and the debtor's creditors. See 1965 Perm.Supp., C.R.S.1963, 11--1--6; C.R.S.1963, 11--1--9, --10, --16, --27. From the record, and with the applicable statutory provisions before us, it is clear that the respondent failed to faithfully discharge his duties to the detriment of everyone who was involved, except the respondent. By filing false documents, he perpetrated a fraud upon the court. He violated his duties to the debtor and to the creditors of the debtor by charging the debtor service fees far in excess of those authorized by statute. He compounded his transgression by thereafter deducting his exorbitant fees from the...