Attorney Grievance Commission v. Zuckerman4/13/2005
Imposing Lawyer Sanctions, reprinted in Selected Statutes, Rules and Standards on the Legal Profession 301 (1987)).
Petitioner has recommended that we impose an indefinite suspension with the right to apply for reinstatement no earlier than two years, while Mr. Zuckerman advocates that he should receive a reprimand. We have held that the sanction for misappropriation of client funds is disbarrment absent compelling extenuating circumstances justifying a lesser sanction, see James, __ Md. at __, __ A.2d at __ ; Attorney Grievance v. Sperling, 380 Md. 180, 191-92, 844 A.2d 397, 404 (2004); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Smith, 376 Md. 202, 237, 829 A.2d 567, 588 (2003); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Spery, 371 Md. 560, 568, 810 A.2d 487, 491-92 (2002); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Vanderlinde, 364 Md. 376, 410, 773 A.2d 463, 483 (2001); however, " here there is no finding of intentional misappropriation . . . and where the misconduct did not result in financial loss to any of the respondent's clients, an indefinite suspension ordinarily is the appropriate sanction." Sperling, 380 Md. at 191-92, 844 A.2d at 404 (quoting Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. DiCicco, 369 Md. 662, 687, 802 A.2d 1014, 1028 (2002)); see also Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Seiden, 373 Md. 409, 424-25, 818 A.2d 1108, 1117 (2003); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Jeter, 365 Md. 279, 293, 778 A.2d 390, 398 (2001); Awuah I, 346 Md. at 435-36, 697 A.2d at 454. In this regard we have stated, "Although ignorance does not excuse a violation of disciplinary rules, a finding with respect to the intent with which a violation was committed is relevant on the issue of the appropriate sanction. This is consistent with the purpose of a disciplinary proceeding . . . ." Spery, 371 Md. at 568, 810 A.2d at 491-92 (quoting Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Awuah I, 346 Md. 420, 435, 697 A.2d 446, 454 (1997).
We have not previously addressed the appropriate sanction where there was a misappropriation of trust account funds based upon the lawyer's ineffectual accounting procedures and theft of funds by an employee. This Court has issued sanctions ranging from a reprimand to an indefinite suspension with a right to reapply after ninety days when the lawyer's conduct did not amount to an intentional misappropriation. See Sperling, 380 Md. at 193, 844 A.2d at 405 (imposing an indefinite suspension with the right to reapply after ninety days for violations of MRPC 1.15, 8.4 and Maryland Code, Section 10-306 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article where the attorney created an unintentional shortfall in his trust account, none of the clients suffered as a result, but the attorney had a prior disciplinary record and acted with significant delay in bringing the trust account into balance); Stolarz, 379 Md. at 405, 842 A.2d at 52-53 (holding that attorney's unintentional failure to notify the creditor bank of his client's receipt of the settlement funds did not warrant imposition of discipline, but rather a dismissal and a warning); Seiden, 373 Md. at 425, 818 A.2d at 1117 (imposing a thirty-day suspension with the right to reapply for violations of MRPC 1.1, 1.15(a), 8.4(a), and 8.4(d) because the attorney improperly obtained his fee from his escrow account after depositing settlement funds, but was remorseful, had no previous disciplinary action against him, and the conduct resulted from representing a difficult client); McClain, 373 Md. at 212, 817 A.2d at 229 (imposing a thirty-day suspension for violations of MRPC 1.15 and Maryland Code, Section 16-606 of the Business Occupations and Professions Article where the attorney negligently failed to designate his escrow account as an attorney trust account and failed to hold a bidder's deposit from a foreclosure sale
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