IOWA SUPREME COURT ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY BOARD, Complainant, vs. MELISSA NINE, Respondent.
No. 18-1582
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA
December 7, 2018
On review of the report of the Iowa Supreme Court Grievance Commission.
Grievance commission recommends the suspension of an attorney‘s license for thirty days for a violation of ethical rules. LICENSE SUSPENDED.
Tara van Brederode and Elizabeth E. Quinlan, for complainant.
David L. Brown of Hansen, McClintock & Riley, Des Moines, for respondent.
An Iowa attorney engaged in an intimate relationship with one of her clients whom she was representing in a marriage dissolution matter. The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board charged the attorney with a violation оf
The parties reached a factual stipulation, agreeing that the charged violation occurred. The grievance commission considered the matter without a hearing and concluded the attorney violated
I. Background Facts and Proceedings.
Melissa Nine is a solo practitioner in Marshalltown who was admitted to the Iowa bar in 2001. In April 2011, John Doe retained Nine to represent him in a marriage dissolution matter, which continued until August 22, 2012. While the dissolution matter was still pending in August 2011, Nine and Doe began an intimate relationship. Doe and Nine were not married to each other at the time of the intimate relationship.
It is unclear when exactly the intimate relationship between Doe and Nine ended. However, on March 1, 2016, the Board sent Nine a notice letter requiring her resрonse to the allegation of sexual misconduct regarding her intimate relationship with Doe. On April 4, Nine requested a complete copy of the Board‘s file and noted, “I am appalled at these allegations, to say the least.” On April 19, Nine provided her initial response to the Board. She admitted engaging in an intimate relationship with Doe but claimed the relationship occurred “at the appropriate time.”
After the Board commenced an investigation into the matter, Nine admitted that she had an intimatе relationship with Doe in August 2011 that she later ended. Nine subsequently cooperated fully with the Board and commission. The investigation revealed that Doe did not suffer any financial harm because of the intimate relationship, nor did he claim any emotional or mentаl harm.
On April 11, 2018, the Board filed a complaint against Nine alleging that she had engaged in sexual relations with a client in violation of
On June 28, the Board and Nine submitted a joint stipulation pursuant to
II. Standard of Review.
We review attorney disciplinary proceedings de novo. Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Johnson, 884 N.W.2d 772, 776 (Iowa 2016). We are not bound by the findings and recommendations of the commission, though we give them respectful consideration. Id. at 777. The Board bears the burden of proving the alleged attorney misconduct by a convincing preponderance of the evidence. Id. “This standard is more demanding than proof by [a] preponderance of the evidence,
III. Ethical Violation.
Nine admits she violated
IV. Sanction.
Our range of applicable sanctions for an attorney who engages in sexual relations with a client spans from a public reprimand all the way to “a lengthy period of suspension from the practice of law.” Johnson, 884 N.W.2d at 780 (quoting Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Marzen, 779 N.W.2d 757, 767 (Iowa 2010)). “There is no standard sanction for a particular type of misconduct, and though prior cases can be instructive, we ultimately determine an appropriate sanction based on the particular circumstances of each case.” Id. at 779 (quoting Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Blessum, 861 N.W.2d 575, 591 (Iowa 2015)). In determining an appropriate sanction, we consider
[t]he nature of the violations, the attorney‘s fitness to continue in the practice of law, the protection of society from those unfit to practice law, the need to uphold public confidence in the justice system, deterrence, maintenance of the reputation of the bar as a whole, and any aggravating or mitigating circumstances.
Id. (alteration in original) (quoting Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Moothart, 860 N.W.2d 598, 615 (Iowa 2015)). We have imposed relatively harsher sanctions in cases involving multiple violations or especially vulnerable clients. See, e.g., Moothart, 860 N.W.2d at 617 (suspending an attorney‘s license for at
For example, in Johnson, we suspended an attorney‘s license for thirty days due to similar misconduct. 884 N.W.2d at 781–82. In that case, Johnson engaged in an intimate relationship with a client she represented in family and criminal matters. Id. at 781. In reaching her sanction, we noted a number of mitigating circumstances. Importantly, Johnson‘s misconduct appeared to be an isolated occurrence given the absence of any evidence showing similar misconduct in the past. Id. We noted that nobody appeared to suffer harm from the relationship. Id. at 782. We also acknowledged that Johnson self-reported, though she only did so after the FBI confronted her with evidence of the relationshiр. Id. at 781. Further, we noted Johnson‘s counseling to address mental health issues that may have played a role in her misconduct and her admirable pro bono work. Id. at 781–82. Nevertheless, we also considered “[t]he fact that Johnson represented Doe in family and criminal mattеrs” as an aggravating circumstance given the vulnerable nature of clients in these circumstances. Id. at 781.
The facts of this case are similar to those of Johnson. As in Johnson, Nine‘s misconduct appears to be an isolated incident, for there is no evidence of similar transgressions or other prior discipline. Likewise, the Board‘s investigation revealed that Nine‘s client did not suffer financial, emotional, or psychological harm due to the relationship. Moreover, Nine has a significant history of involvement in the community and within the legal profession. She has served as a mock trial coach and an officer on the Marshalltown County Human Civil Rights Commission, participated in the Meskwaki Tribal Court, contributed to the local parent teacher association, and volunteered time in the Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys Advocacy mission at the local domestic shelter.
Though this was an isolated incident, we must note that Nine, like Johnson, represented Doe in a family matter, which is an aggravating circumstance. Additionally, it is an aggravating circumstance that Nine was initially evasive about her misconduct and did not admit regret. Yet, Nine did admit her wrongdoing soon after the Board filed its initial complaint and fully cooperated with the Board from that point on in the process.
Finally, though we are sanctioning Nine‘s misconduct now, we consider that it took place in 2011. At that time, our most recent attorney disciplinary case regarding a similar violation of
Since Monroe, we have continued to suspend attorney‘s licenses for thirty days for violating
Neverthelеss, we must note that our decision today is filed alongside another opinion that also sanctions an attorney for sexual relations with a client by suspending his license for thirty days. See Jacobsma, ___ N.W.2d ___, ___ (Iowa 2018). Nine is the fourth attorney in the last few years to violate
V. Conclusion.
We suspend Nine from the practice of law without the possibility of reinstatement for thirty days. This suspension applies to all facets of the practice of law as provided in
LICENSE SUSPENDED.
All justices concur except Wiggins, J., who concurs specially, and Hecht, J., who takes no part.
#18-1582, Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Nine
WIGGINS, Justice (concurring specially).
In Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board v. Jacobsma, ____ N.W.2d ____, ____ (Iowa 2018), I dissented and thought we should suspend Jacobsma‘s license indefinitely with no possibility of reinstatement for three months.1 Id. at ____ (Wiggins, J., dissenting). Additionally, before reinstatement, I would have required him to obtain counseling and provide this court with a report showing he is no longer at risk to engage in sexual relationships with clients. Id.
I stated the reason for my dissent as follows:
Jacobsma is the third attorney in the last few years to violate
rule 32:1.8(j) . See Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Waterman, 890 N.W.2d 327, 329–30 (Iowa 2017); Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Johnson, 884 N.W.2d 772, 775–76 (Iowa 2016). In Waterman, Johnson, and Monroe, and we suspended the attorney‘s licenses for thirty days.A sanction in a disciplinary cаse serves many purposes. Three of those purposes are deterrence, protection of the public, and maintaining the reputation of the bar as a whole. Iowa Supreme Ct. Att‘y Disciplinary Bd. v. Mathahs, 918 N.W.2d 487, 494 (Iowa 2018). We decided the Waterman and Johnson cases over seven months before Jacobsma had sexual relations with his
client. Obviously, our thirty-day suspension is not deterring attorneys from engaging in sexual relationships with clients.
Id. (citations omitted).
Here, Melissa Nine‘s conduct occurred after we decided Monroe, but before we decided Waterman and Johnson. Thus, the deterrent rationale
is inapplicable to her situation. However, Nine‘s conduct shows an attorney engaging in sexual relationships with his or her clients is a grоwing problem that must stop. The only way to stop it is with stricter sanctions.