[textbook]Traversing the Ethical Minefield Problems, Law, and Professional Responsibility by Susan R. Martyn (z-lib.org)(1) (1)

(2) Criminal impersonation is a class 6 felony.
1. The Bounds of the Law: Fraud, supra Chapter 7.
2. Although an exact count of criminal prohibitions probably is impossible, one author estimates about 3,600 federal
and 985 state crimes in her jurisdiction (Arizona). Susan A. Ehrlich, The Increasing Federalization of Crime, 32 Ariz. St.
L.J. 825, 826 (2000).
3. See, e.g., United States v. Cueto, 151 F.3d 620 (7th Cir. 1998) (lawyer/business partner of client who knowingly
falsely charged an FBI investigator with soliciting a bribe, and filed false motions that attacked the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) and U.S. Attorney convicted of obstruction of justice; lawyer’s personal financial interest was a
“corrupt endeavor” to influence the “due administration of justice” which protected his client’s illegal gambling
operation); Cueto v. Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Comm., 2005 WL 1669574 (S.D. Ill.) (recounting the
lawyer’s subsequent disbarment).
4. Rule 19 of the ABA Model R. for Lawyer Disc. Enforcement (1999) defines “serious crime” to include, generally,
any felonies or lesser crimes that reflect adversely on the lawyer’s fitness to practice, and specifically those that involve
“interference with the administration of justice, false swearing, misrepresentation, fraud, deceit, bribery, extortion,
misappropriation, theft, or an attempt, conspiracy or solicitation of another to commit a ‘serious crime.’ ”
5. E.g., Atty. Grievance Comm’n. v. Bereano, 744 A.2d 35 (Md. 2000) (lawyer convicted of mail fraud based on
violations of state election fundraising laws disbarred regardless of lack of potential for direct personal gain); In re
Moore, 691 A.2d 1151 (D.C. 1997) (lawyer convicted of a misdemeanor for willful failure to file tax returns suspended
for three years). See also Milton C. Regan, Eat What You Kill: The Fall of a Wall Street Lawyer (U. Mich. 2004)
(detailing the bankruptcy fraud and perjury convictions and subsequent disbarment of John Gellene); United States v.
Gellene, 182 F.3d 578 (7th Cir. 1999); In re Gellene, 709 A.2d 196 (N.J. 1998).
6. Disc. Counsel v. Calabrese, 36 N.E.3d 151(Ohio 2016) (lawyer who committed more than two dozen felonies
over a ten-year period, including racketeering, corruption, fraud, and bribery, disbarred).
7. E.g., Cincinnati Bar Ass’n v. Glaser, 52 N.E.3d 1186 (Ohio 2016) (lawyer convicted of attempting to permit drug
abuse in her home suspended for six months); Atty. Grievance Comm’n. v. Painter, 739 A.2d 24 (Md. 1999) (lawyer
guilty of repeated domestic violence of wife and child disbarred).
8. E.g., Iowa S. Ct. Atty Disc. Bd. v. Templeton, 784 N.W. 2d 761 (Iowa 2010) (lawyer who pled guilty to invasion
of privacy — nudity for his window-peeping into a house shared by three women indefinitely suspended).
9. See, e.g., In re Nuss, 67 P.3d 386 (Or. 2003) (lawyer convicted of misdemeanor crime of harassment for
intentionally reaching into another’s car and offensively touching the victim’s shoulder not subject to discipline); In re
Cross, 155 A.3d 835 (D.C. App. 2017) (lawyer convicted of video voyeurism in a gym locker room disbarred). Some of
the most difficult cases concern lawyers who commit alcohol or drug crimes. See, e.g., In re Lock, 54 S.W.3d 305 (Tex.
2001) (lawyer’s guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance (cocaine), a third-degree felony, should not subject
lawyer to compulsory discipline, but rather to standard disciplinary procedure where mitigating factors can be
considered).
10. In re Schaeffer, 45 A.3d 149 (Del. 2012) (lawyer whose actions violated misdemeanor statute prohibiting false
police reports publicly reprimanded despite never being charged with the crime); In re Williams, 85 So. 3d 583 (La.
2012) (lawyer who shot and killed a friend permanently disbarred despite reversal of manslaughter conviction and
charges later being dismissed); In re Treinen, 131 P.3d 1282 (N.M. 2006) (lawyer placed on supervised probation
under conditional discharge after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor count of battery against a household member
committed a criminal act and was subject to discipline; any legislative attempt to limit to grounds for professional
discipline would be unconstitutional violation of separation of powers).
11. E.g., In re Segal, 719 N.E.2d 480 (Mass. 1999) (lawyer acquitted of making false statements to a federally insured
bank later suspended for two years for the same conduct); People v. Odom, 941 P.2d 919 (Colo. 1997) (lawyer who
committed the felony of concealing property to avoid seizure, but who was never charged with the crime, disbarred).
12. In re Abrams, 689 A.2d 6 (D.C. 1997) (en banc) (lawyer who received presidential pardon after pleading guilty
to testifying falsely to Congress publicly censured for dishonesty, deceit, and misrepresentation).
13. RLGL § 5, Comment g.
14. E.g., In re Capone, 689 A.2d 128 (N.J. 1997) (lawyer who committed mail fraud by making a false statement on
loan application suspended for two years); In re Brown, 674 So. 2d 243 (La. 1996) (lawyer convicted of negligent
homicide disbarred); Tate v. St. Bar, 920 S.W.2d 727 (Tex. Crim. App. 1996) (lawyer who fled the scene and failed to
stop and render assistance to three injured children disbarred).
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