P:\CLEPUB\Books\Disciplinary Board Reporter ... - Oregon State Bar

Cite as In re Ryan, 19 DB Rptr 41 (2005)
any level of injury greater than “little or no injury.” ABA Standards, p. 7. “Potential
injury” is the harm to a client, the public, the legal system, or the profession that is
reasonably foreseeable at the time of the lawyer’s misconduct, and which, but for
some intervening factor or event, would probably have resulted from the lawyer’s
misconduct. ABA Standards, p. 7. Both actual injury and potential injury are to be
considered in imposing a sanction for lawyer misconduct.
The conduct of the Accused in willfully misrepresenting facts in her
reinstatement petition caused serious injury to the public and the legal profession.
The Bar must be able to rely on the candor, honesty, and integrity of the lawyers it
licenses. The Oregon Supreme Court has identified the filing of false affidavits with
the Bar as a form of “serious misconduct.” See, e.g., In re Wyllie, 327 Or 177, 183,
957 P2d 1222 (1998). The conduct of the Accused also has the potential for injury
to her clients and the legal system. When a lawyer practices law during a suspension
for failure to pay a PLF assessment, the lawyer is practicing law without professional
liability insurance. The Accused thus caused potential injury to her clients by
performing legal services for them without the required malpractice insurance. The
Accused also caused potential injury to the legal system by practicing law when she
was not authorized to do so.
The Accused’s misconduct implicates several ABA Standards. ABA
Standards, § 4.62 provides:
Suspension is generally appropriate when a lawyer knowingly deceives a
client, and causes injury or potential injury to the client.
ABA Standards, § 5.11 provides, in part:
Disbarment is generally appropriate when:
. . . .
(b) a lawyer engages in . . . intentional conduct involving dishonesty,
fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation that seriously adversely reflects on the
lawyer’s fitness to practice.
ABA Standards, § 7.1 provides:
Disbarment is generally appropriate when a lawyer knowingly engages in
conduct that is a violation of a duty owed as a professional with the intent
to obtain a benefit for the lawyer or another, and caused serious or
potentially serious injury to a client, the public, or the legal system.
ABA Standards, § 7.2 provides:
Suspension is generally appropriate when a lawyer knowingly engages in
conduct that is a violation of a duty owed as a professional, and causes injury
or potential injury to a client, the public, or the legal system.
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