The Florida Bar re Janssen, 81774
| Decision Date | 13 October 1994 |
| Docket Number | No. 81774,81774 |
| Citation | 643 So.2d 1065 |
| Parties | 19 Fla. L. Weekly S521 THE FLORIDA BAR re Dennis Michael JANSSEN. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
John F. Harkness, Jr., Executive Director and John T. Berry, Staff Counsel, Tallahassee, and David R. Ristoff, Branch Staff Counsel and Joseph A. Corsmeier, Asst. Staff Counsel, The Florida Bar, Tampa, for complainant.
Richard T. Earle, Jr., Earle and Earle, St. Petersburg, for respondent.
The Florida Bar filed a petition for review of the referee's recommendation that Dennis Janssen's petition for reinstatement to the practice of law be granted. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 15 of the Florida Constitution.
Janssen was suspended from the practice of law in May 1992 for one year based upon trust account violations and shortages and improprieties related to receiving loans from clients. The Fla. Bar v. Janssen, 599 So.2d 659 (Fla.1992). Janssen filed a petition for reinstatement on May 17, 1993.
During a May 27, 1993, meeting with the Bar staff investigator, Janssen represented that he had no pending judgments or arrests. However, Janssen had actually been arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) shortly after midnight that same day. Janssen did not file an amendment to the petition, nor did he contact the Bar regarding the arrest. The Bar investigator discovered the DUI arrest during a search of police records on July 7, 1993. Janssen subsequently disclosed the DUI arrest during a July 20, 1993, deposition by the Bar.
During an inquiry concerning the arrest, the Bar also discovered that Janssen made several misrepresentations to law enforcement officers. Janssen advised the officers that he was unable to perform the field sobriety tasks because of injuries sustained playing varsity football at Florida State University (FSU). In reality, Janssen never played football at FSU. Janssen also advised the officers that he had to be released from jail in order to be in court or attend a meeting that morning relating to a woman with a domestic violence problem. Janssen's meeting that morning was actually with the Bar investigator and his attorney.
During the referee hearing regarding Janssen's petition for reinstatement, the Bar also presented evidence that Janssen made similar misrepresentations regarding his involvement in FSU varsity sports to his former employer, his physicians, and his defense attorney in a driver's license reinstatement proceeding. The record also shows that Janssen was $14,200 in arrears in child support payments, having failed to make payments from January 1992 to the October 1993 hearing even though he had a fairly substantial income during this time. Janssen also failed to include this financial obligation in his petition for reinstatement.
The referee found that Janssen attempted to mislead others about his sports involvement, that he misled the officers about the nature of his meeting on the morning of his arrest, that his failure to meet his child support obligations was not reasonable, and that he withheld information about his DUI arrest from the Bar investigator. However, the referee discounted this conduct because none of its "was in the course of the practice of law and none of it was for the purpose of financial gain to Petitioner or to defraud anyone." The referee recommended that Janssen be reinstated to the practice of law and be placed on probation for eighteen months. The referee also recommended that Janssen's probation be conditioned on fulfilling any probationary conditions relating to his pending DUI charge, 1 complying with all Florida Lawyers Assistance, Inc. conditions and recommendations, keeping current with all child support payments, and paying all costs related to his reinstatement proceeding.
The Bar now argues that the referee's recommendation of reinstatement is erroneous because there is an absence of evidence supporting Janssen's fitness to practice law. A petitioner seeking reinstatement bears the heavy burden of establishing rehabilitation. The Fla. Bar re Timson, 301 So.2d 448, 449 (Fla.1975). The petitioner must show: 1) full compliance with the conditions imposed in the previous...
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THE FLORIDA BAR EX REL. DUNAGAN, SC95720.
... ... As to the referee's findings of fact, they should be upheld unless clearly erroneous or without support in the record. See Florida Bar re Janssen, 643 So.2d 1065, 1067 (Fla.1994). "With regard to the referee's legal conclusions and recommendations, the Court's scope of review is wider because ... ...
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Florida Bd. of Bar Examiners re J.C.B., 84542
... ... In seeking readmission, J.C.B. bears the heavy burden of establishing rehabilitation. See Florida Bar re Janssen, 643 So.2d 1065, 1066 (Fla.1994); Florida Bar re Jahn, 559 So.2d 1089, 1090 (Fla.1990). To determine whether J.C.B. should be readmitted, we may ... ...
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Florida Bd. of Bar Examiners re W.H.V.D., 81310
... ... Janssen, 643 So.2d 1065, 1066 (Fla.1994). Similarly, an applicant who has been denied admission to the Bar also bears this burden. See Fla. Bar Admiss.R., ... ...
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The Florida Bar re Webster, 79979
... ... 2 This amount represents the total costs less administrative and investigative expenses. See The Fla. Bar re Janssen ... ...
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The Florida Board of Bar Examiners: the use of and rehabilitation at formal hearings.
...to the Bar "bears the [same] heavy burden of establishing rehabilitation." W.H.V.D., 653 So. 2d at 388, quoting Florida Bar v. Janssen, 643 So. 2d 1065, 1066 (Fla. 1994). See also Florida Board of Bar Examiners re L.H.H., 660 So. 2d 1046 (Fla. 1995) (insufficient rehabilitation shown by dis......