In re West
This matter is before the Court on the supplemental petition for voluntary discipline filed by Emmanuel Lucas West (State Bar No. 748658) prior to the issuance of a formal complaint, see Bar Rule 4-227 (b) (2), after we rejected his initial petition, see In the Matter of West,
We rejected West’s initial petition, in which he sought a Review Panel reprimand for violating Rule 1.2 (d) of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct, because the facts admitted by West did not show that he violated this rule. We stated that the facts suggested that West violated other Rules, such as 1.2 (a) and 8.4 (a), and declined to express an opinion on the appropriateness of a Review Panel reprimand for the conduct admitted by West.
In his supplemental petition, West, who became a member of the Bar in 2002, admits the same underlying facts as in his first petition: In the summer of 2014, an individual paid him $3,500 to represent her minor son in an immigration matter. The son, who was a citizen of Guatemala, had been detained in Texas and was facing removal proceedings. After discussing the matter through an interpreter, West agreed to represent the son in seeking asylum in the United States and timely completed the application for asylum. West did not read the application to the client in the client’s native language, however, and he signed the client’s name where required in the application and supporting documents, despite the fact that one of those signatures was under penalty of perjury and required an attestation that the client had signed the document in West’s presence. West claims that he signed the client’s name knowing that an applicant generally is allowed to amend or supplement his or her application freely up until the time of the hearing, and maintains that he fully intended to supplement with the client’s real signature at a later date.
West acknowledges that the Investigative Panel found possible violations of Rules 1.2,1.4, and 8.4 (a) (4). West, however, admits only to having violated Rules 1.2 (a) and 1.4 by failing to communicate properly and consult with his client as to the means by which the client’s objectives were being pursued. The maximum sanction for a violation of Rule 1.2 is disbarment. The maximum sanction for a violation of Rule 1.4 is a public reprimand. West seeks the imposition of a Review Panel reprimand for his admitted violations, citing the same mitigating circumstances listed in his first petition and noting that he agreed to accept a Review Panel reprimand as a result of negotiations with the Office of the General Counsel of the State Bar following its investigation of this matter. West denies violating Rule 8.4 (a) (4), which prohibits “professional conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,” arguing that he did not have the requisite mental culpability. West argues that a contrary finding should not alter the level of discipline under the circumstances, particularly in the light of the mitigating factors.
We have stated that a violation of Rule 8.4 (a) (4) is “among the most serious violations with which a lawyer can be charged.” In the Matter of Woodham,
West cites several cases in support of his argument that a Review Panel reprimand is appropriate even if he was found to have violated Rule 8.4 (a) (4), but in many of the cases cited, the attorney in question readily admitted violating the rule — a factor that may have been a mitigating circumstance — whereas West maintains he has not violated the rule. See, e.g., In the Matter of Bell, 299 Ga. 143 (
Petition for voluntary discipline rejected.