The Florida Bar v. Hale
| Decision Date | 29 June 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. SC00-453.,SC00-453. |
| Citation | 762 So.2d 515 |
| Parties | THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant, v. Ronald Alan HALE, Respondent. |
| Court | Florida Supreme Court |
J. David Bogenschutz, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Petitioner.
Kevin P. Tynan, Bar Counsel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Respondent.
Florida Bar member Ronald Alan Hale has filed a petition for disciplinary resignation. This petition invokes the Court's "exclusive jurisdiction to regulate the admission of persons to the practice of law and the discipline of persons admitted" as provided in article V, section 15 of the Florida Constitution.
Rule of Discipline 3-7.12 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar addresses the matter of "disciplinary resignation." The introductory language of rule 3-7.12 provides: "If a disciplinary agency is investigating the conduct of an attorney, or if such agency has recommended probable cause, then disciplinary proceedings shall be deemed to be pending and a petition for disciplinary resignation may be filed pursuant to this rule." Such a resignation is sought "in lieu of defending against allegations of disciplinary violations." R. Regulating Fla. Bar 3-5.1(j). The rule requires that the petition contain a statement of all past and present disciplinary and criminal proceedings involving the Bar member, a statement of the results of any such past proceedings, and a description of the nature and status of any pending charges. The petition must also state whether resignation is sought with or without leave to apply for readmission. See R. Regulating Fla. Bar 3-7.12(a).
To obtain a judgment granting disciplinary resignation, the member must show "that the public interest will not be adversely affected" and that the granting of the petition "will neither adversely affect the integrity of the courts nor hinder the administration of justice [or] the confidence of the public in the legal profession." R. Regulating Fla. Bar 3-7.12(b). Rule of Discipline 3-5.1(j) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar provides: "If accepted by the Supreme Court of Florida, a disciplinary resignation terminates the respondent's status as a member of the bar." See generally Florida Bar v. Ross, 732 So.2d 1037, 1040 (Fla.1998)( that one who resigns in face of disciplinary charges is no longer a member of the bar).
Attorney Hale's petition describes the nature and status of several disciplinary actions now pending against him. In Supreme Court case No. 95,311, this Court suspended Hale on an emergency basis pursuant to Rule of Discipline 3-5.2. Hale's motion to dissolve or amend the emergency suspension is now pending before a referee. In Supreme Court case No. 95, 399, The Florida Bar filed a formal complaint alleging professional misconduct. The complaint is pending before a referee. In Supreme Court case No. 00-188, the Bar has filed a petition for an order directing Hale to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of this Court based on alleged violations of the order of emergency suspension. In Supreme Court case No. 00-269, the Bar filed an additional formal complaint of misconduct, which is pending before a referee. By operation of rule 3-7.12(d), the granting of a petition for disciplinary resignation serves "to dismiss all pending disciplinary cases." Under rule 3-7.12(e), in an order granting disciplinary resignation, the Court "may impose a judgment for the costs expended by The Florida Bar in all pending disciplinary cases against the respondent."
Hales's petition states that resignation is sought with leave to apply for readmission in five years, measured from the effective date of his emergency suspension, May 17, 1999. Under Rule of Discipline 3-7.10(m), an application for readmission after disciplinary resignation is not allowed until three years following the date of the resignation "or such additional time as the attorney may have stated in a petition for disciplinary resignation."
The Florida Bar has submitted a response to Hale's petition in which it states that, pursuant to the directive of...
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