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In re Dugger9/26/2002
nes, we conclude that the accused's prior offense is entitled to some, but not considerable, weight. Other aggravating factors are that the accused has substantial experience in the practice of law, ABA Standard 9.22(i); there are multiple offenses, ABA Standard 9.22(d); and the accused does not appreciate the wrongfulness of his misconduct, ABA Standard 9.22(g).
F. Mitigating Factors
The sole mitigating factor is that the accused cooperated with disciplinary counsel and the local professional responsibility committee. ABA Standard 9.32(e).
G. Case Law
We turn to a consideration of this court's case law. Recently, this court restated its long-held position that knowingly or intentionally making false statements under oath is among the most serious acts of misconduct that a lawyer can commit. See In re Davenport, 334 Or 298, 321-22, 49 P3d 91 (2002) (so stating and citing previous cases supporting that proposition). This court has imposed lengthy suspensions on lawyers who made false statements under oath. See, e.g., In re Staar, 324 Or 283, 924 P2d 308 (1996) (two-year suspension for knowingly making false statements of fact under oath plus other misconduct; In re Sundstrom, 250 Or 404, 409, 442 P2d 604 (1968) (five-year suspension for false testimony in Bar proceeding in addition to other misconduct).
This court also has imposed lengthy suspensions on lawyers for making misrepresentations to the court when the lawyer was not under oath, as the accused did at the November hearing. See Gustafson, 327 Or 636 (six-month suspension for knowingly making misrepresentation to court, in addition to other misconduct); Claussen, 322 Or 466 (12-month suspension for misrepresentation by omission to bankruptcy court, in addition to other misconduct); In re McKee, 316 Or 114, 849 P2d 509 (1993) (18-month suspension for misrepresenting to court that matter had been settled, in addition to other misconduct); In re Hiller, 298 Or 526, 694 P2d 540 (1985) (four-month suspension for single act of nondisclosure of material fact).
Having reviewed this court's case law, we conclude that a nine-month suspension from the practice of law is the appropriate sanction in this proceeding. As this court repeatedly has stated, testifying falsely under oath, as the accused did at the January hearing, is serious misconduct for which a lengthy suspension is required. Moreover, as we have found, the accused also made material misrepresentations of fact at the November hearing. The suspension we impose on the accused for the misconduct at issue in this proceeding is not as lengthy as we imposed in Staar or Sundstrom, but we conclude that the accused's misconduct was not as egregious as the misconduct in those cases. Under the circumstances of this case, we conclude that a nine-month suspension will protect the public and the administration of justice. See ABA Standard 1.1 (purpose of lawyer discipline to protect public and administration of justice).
The accused is suspended from the practice of law for nine months, effective 60 days from the date of the filing of this decision.
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