Ethics
Maine’s high court docket affirms suspension of lawyer who requested staffer to take his CLE courses
Textual content messages between a Maine solo practitioner and his assistant are sturdy proof that he requested her to take his persevering with authorized training courses, fairly than to easily obtain them for future viewing, mentioned Justice Thomas R. McKeon of the Maine Superior Court docket. Picture from Shutterstock.
The Maine Supreme Judicial Court docket has affirmed a one-year suspension of an legal professional who requested his assistant to take his persevering with authorized training courses.
Solo practitioner Donald F. Brown of Brewer, Maine, had appealed the October 2022 order of Justice Thomas R. McKeon of the Maine Superior Court docket, who discovered that Brown violated the Maine Guidelines of Skilled Conduct and the Maine Bar Guidelines.
Based on McKeon’s findings, Brown grew to become conscious in late February 2020 that he needed to full 12 hours of CLE. Brown signed up for 4 dwell seminars that require individuals to acknowledge their presence when prompted. However Brown realized that he had scheduling conflicts, so he requested his assistant to signal on to the net courses in his place.
Textual content messages between Brown and his assistant are sturdy proof that he requested her to take the courses, fairly than to easily obtain them for future viewing, McKeon mentioned. McKeon characterised Brown’s request as “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.”
Brown challenged the sufficiency of the proof supporting McKeon’s findings and argued that he imposed inappropriate sanctions. Whereas the Maine Supreme Judicial Court docket discovered that Brown’s attraction was well timed, it affirmed McKeon’s judgment.
“We’ll uphold the findings and inferences of the only justice ‘until they’re clearly misguided,’” in line with the court docket’s Aug. 24 opinion. “A discovering is clearly misguided when no competent file proof helps it.”
“We discover no error in any of the only justice’s factual findings relating to Depend 1, that are amply supported by competent file proof,” in line with the opinion.
McKeon moreover reprimanded Brown for a second moral violation for representing a shopper, recognized as T.F., in a divorce case after they engaged in a sexual relationship. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court docket additionally discovered no error on this willpower.
“As the only justice famous, the information present that there was a major danger that Brown couldn’t give unbiased authorized counsel to T.F. as a result of the result of the divorce case would have a direct impression on Brown’s own residence and private life,” the court docket mentioned.
Hat tip to the Legal Profession Blog.
