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Attorney Grievance Commission v. Zuckerman4/13/2005
m himself of the status of his employees' efforts to monitor the funds in the account." Such a failure to oversee his employees' tasks constitutes a violation of MRPC 5.3(a) and (b) because Mr. Zuckerman did not make reasonable efforts to ensure that his employees' conduct complied with his own professional obligations. We have held that "had the respondent exercised a reasonable degree of supervision over [his employee], he might have detected [the employee's] error before any ethical proscriptions had been violated" under Rule 5.3. Glenn, 341 Md. at 481, 671 A.2d at 479 (quoting Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Dacy, 313 Md. 1, 5, 542 A.2d 841, 843 (1988)).
4. MRPC 8.4(d)
Judge Prevas found that "Respondent's repeated failure to pay either clients or medical providers as he was required to do was conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice" in violation of MRPC 8.4(d). We have found violations of Rule 8.4(d) when the lawyer misappropriated client funds or misused his or her trust account. See Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Brown, 380 Md. 661, 846 A.2d 428 (2004) (misappropriation of client funds); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Gallagher, 371 Md. 673, 810 A.2d 996 (2002) (misappropriation of client funds); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Santos, 370 Md. 77, 803 A.2d 505 (2002) (commingling client funds into operating account); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Powell, 369 Md. 462, 800 A.2d 782 (2002) (misuse of attorney trust account); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. McCoy, 369 Md. 226, 798 A.2d 1132 (2002) (commingling of client funds); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Snyder, 368 Md. 242, 793 A.2d 515 (2002) (misuse of trust account); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Hollis, 347 Md. 547, 702 A.2d 223 (1997) (misappropriation of client funds).
In this case, Mr. Zuckerman misused his trust account, commingled client funds in his operating account and commingled client funds in the trust account. We agree with the hearing judge that such actions constitute conduct that was prejudicial to the administration of justice in violation of Rule 8.4(d).
SANCTIONS
As we recently stated in Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Maryland v. Goodman, 381 Md. 480, 850 A.2d 1157 (2004), the appropriate sanction for a violation of the MRPC depends on the facts and circumstances of each case, including consideration of any mitigating factors. Id. at 496, 850 A.2d at 1167; Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Awuah II, 374 Md. 505, 526, 823 A.2d 651, 663 (2003); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. McClain, 373 Md. 196, 211, 817 A.2d 218, 227 (2003). Primarily, we seek "to protect the public, to deter other lawyers from engaging in violations of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct, and to maintain the integrity of the legal profession." Awuah II, 374 Md. at 526, 823 A.2d at 663 (quoting Blum, 373 Md. at 303, 818 A.2d at 236). To achieve the goal of protecting the public, we impose a sanction that is "commensurate with the nature and gravity of the violations and the intent with which they were committed." Id. To assist us in determining what would be appropriate, we have reviewed the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions:
Along with our own cases as precedent in determining the appropriate sanction, it is helpful for us to refer to the ABA Standards. These standards create an organizational framework that calls for a consideration of four questions: (1) What is the nature of the ethical duty violated; (2) What was the lawyer's mental state; (3) What was the extent of the actual or potential injury caused by the lawyer's misconduct; (4) Are there any aggravating or mitigating circumstances?
Glenn, 341 Md. at 484, 671 A.2d at 480 (citing Standard 3.0 of the ABA Standards for
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