Respondent H. Franklin Green challenges the Report and Recommendation of the Board on Professional Responsibility
Mr. Green argues to this court that he violated no Rules of Professional Conduct. But he failed to avail himself of the
Mr. Green did make one procedural challenge before the Board to his disciplinary proceedings. In his motion to the Board for extra time to. file exceptions, Mr. Green argued that his disciplinary case should be dismissed because the Ad Hoc Hearing Committee issued its report well outside of the 120-day timeframe envisioned by D.C. Bar R. XI, § 9(a) (“Within 120 days after the conclusion of its hearing, the Hearing Committee shall in every case submit to the Board a report....”). The Board addressed and correctly rejected this argument. As we explained in In re Morrell,
“In the final analysis, the responsibility to discipline lawyers is the court’s. The buck stops here.” In re Holdmann,
For the reasons set forth above, H. Franklin Green is disbarred from the practice of law in the District of Columbia. His reinstatement is conditioned on restitution to Hans Michel, Claude Lane, William McCrorey, and William West. For purposes of reinstatement, the period of disbarment shall run from the date on which Mr. Green files an affidavit in accordance with D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14(g).
So ordered.
Notes
. Although entitled "Respondent’s Reply Brief to BPR’s RPT,” Mr. Green’s sole brief to this court mentions the Board’s report only on the second page of his 55-page pleading; for the most part Mr. Green’s brief seems to repeat the arguments he made before the Ad Hoc Hearing Committee.
. In this motion, beyond the timeliness argument discussed below, Mr. Green stated only that he rejected the Ad Hoc Hearing Committee's Report and Recommendation "in its totality” and vaguely asserted that the Report was "materially flawed and heavily biased in favor of OBC.”
. Even were we to recognize a safety valve allowing a respondent who fails to make any arguments before the Board to challenge an obvious miscarriage of justice by the Board, cf. In re Goffer,
