Board of Overseers of the Bar v. Jeffrey P. White
Board of Overseers of the Bar v. Jeffrey P. White
Opinion
[¶1] On April 26, 2018, the Board of Overseers of the Bar instituted disciplinary proceedings against attorney Jeffrey P. White by filing a four-count information with the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, alleging that White violated more than a dozen provisions of the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct. See M. Bar R. 13(e)(7)(D), (10)(E), (g). After a testimonial hearing, the single justice ( Alexander, J. ) found and concluded that White violated multiple ethical rules as to each of the four counts, for which the single justice sanctioned White to a nine-month license suspension and a public reprimand. See M.R. Prof. Conduct 1.3, 1.4(a)(2)-(4), 1.5(i), 1.15(b), 1.16(d), 3.3(a), 3.4(b), 4.1(a), 5.3, 8.4(c). White appeals, advancing arguments regarding procedural due process, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting some of the court's findings, and arguing that the sanction was overly harsh.
[¶2] Contrary to White's contentions, we discern no due process violations in the court's consideration of ethical rules that were not pleaded in the Board's information,
see
Bd. of Overseers of the Bar v. Lefebvre
,
[¶3] Although White correctly asserts that the court made several factual errors in its decision, including by relying on evidence that was not admitted and making findings that have no record support,
1
see
Lefebvre
,
[¶4] Finally, although the court did not explicitly articulate its consideration of the American Bar Association's Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions (Am. Bar Ass'n 1992) (ABA Sanction Standards) in fashioning the sanction, because the sanction imposed nevertheless comports with the ABA Sanction Standards, we do not
*169
disturb the court's decision on this basis.
2
See
M.R. Civ. P. 61 ;
In re Scott S.
,
The entry is:
Judgment affirmed.
There was some discussion about Exhibit 7 during the oral argument in this appeal. On review, we conclude that Exhibit 7 was not admitted at trial, and therefore we have not considered it.
White's additional contention-that, as to Count 4, the court should have deferred to the sanctions imposed on him by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maine-is without merit.
See
M. Bar R. 10(a) ;
In re Williams
,
Reference
- Full Case Name
- BOARD OF OVERSEERS OF the BAR v. Jeffrey P. WHITE
- Cited By
- 2 cases
- Status
- Published