Maryland: Attorney Suspended for Making Knowingly False Statements

Link for opinion: http://mdcourts.gov/opinions/coa/2010/3a09ag.pdf

In Atty. Griev. Comm'n of Md. v. Brown, Misc. Docket AG No. 3, September Term, 2009, COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND, 2010 Md. LEXIS 330, July 27, 2010, Filed, The Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland (AGC) suspended a lawyer for 90 days for making knowingly false statements to the AGC and to his client, and for drawing a check on the client’s trust account.

The AGC confirmed the hearing judge’s assessment that the lawyer knowingly made false statements to the AGC and to his client violating Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct 4.1(a)(1), MRPC 8.1(a), MRPC 8.4(c) and (d), and that drawing a check on the client’s trust account violated Maryland Rule 16-609.

The attorney had knowingly made false statements three times—once to his client and twice to the AGC when the client asked them to investigate the situation. Because of the nature of his misconduct the court wanted to suspend the attorney for one year, and the attorney requested only 60 days stating that prior cases involved deceitful attorneys with additional misconduct. After weighing the mitigating factors of the case, the court agreed that 90 days was appropriate.

This case shows us the importance of the lawyer’s duty under Rule 4.1(a)(1) which states that “In the course of representing a client a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of material fact or law.” In addition, Rule 8.4(c) and (d) states that “It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation” or “engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice…”