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Attorney Grievance Commission v. Zuckerman4/13/2005
espondent's lax attitude toward his trust account. This attitude is underscored by his lack of interest in the reconciliation of the May account, which, had it been properly performed, would have uncovered Ms. Becker's theft sooner."
Petitioner takes no exceptions to the hearing judge's findings of fact and conclusions of law and recommends indefinite suspension with the right to reapply after two years. On February 3, 2005, Mr. Zuckerman filed several exceptions to the hearing judge's findings.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
In proceedings involving attorney discipline, this Court has original and complete jurisdiction. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. James, __ Md. __, __, 843 A.2d __, __ (2005); Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. O'Toole, 379 Md. 595, 604, 843 A.2d 50, 55 (2004). Clear and convincing evidence must support the hearing judge's findings. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Gore, 380 Md. 455, 468, 845 A.2d 1204, 1211 (2004). As a result, we review the record independently but generally accept the hearing judge's findings of fact unless they are clearly erroneous. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Potter, 380 Md. 128, 151, 844 A.2d 367, 380-381 (2004). Any conclusions of law made by the hearing judge, such as whether provisions of the MRPC were violated, are subject to our de novo review. Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. McLaughlin, 372 Md. 467, 493, 813 A.2d 1145, 1160 (2002).
DISCUSSION
A. Zuckerman's Exceptions Regarding the Findings of Fact
We have reviewed the record and conclude that Judge Prevas's findings of fact are supported by clear and convincing evidence.
Zuckerman takes exception to several factual findings, each of which we will address and overrule.
Exception 1: Respondent excepts to the following findings of fact by the hearing judge: "In May of 2002, Ms. Becker was rehired by the respondent who requested her job back. Since so much of that sentence . . . may be susceptible to being interpreted . . . that the respondent requested that Ms. Becker, a former employee whose subsequent defalcations gave rise to the instant attorney grievance proceeding, return to his employment, a factual conclusion that is diametrically opposed by the record, which clearly establishes that the course of events which led to Ms. Becker's rehiring was initiated by her written request to have her job back and not by any action on respondent's part."
The trial judge's factual findings do not directly state or impliedly suggest that Mr. Zuckerman sought to rehire Ms. Becker on his own accord without any prompting by Ms. Becker. The findings clearly establish that in May of 2002, Ms. Becker asked to be rehired and that Mr. Zuckerman did rehire her.
This exception is denied.
Exception 2: "Respondent excepts to so much of the hearing judge's quoted writing as apparently concludes that the additional interval of theft by Ms. Becker was the `result' of delay in examination of the June, 2002 bank statement. While the relatively brief additional window of time involved may have afforded Ms. Becker further opportunity to steal, her theft certainly was neither caused by or resulted from that circumstance, but was occasioned by Ms. Becker's criminal activity and intent . . . ."
The trial judge's factual findings do not indicate that Ms. Becker's theft was caused by Mr. Zuckerman's failure to timely review the June 2002 bank statement. Rather, Ms. Becker's acts went undetected for a longer period because Mr. Zuckerman did not timely review the June 2002 bank statement, which would have revealed the theft. Indeed, Judge Prevas found:
The statement for the respondent's trust account a
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