noting that except for the Addams rule, which is too inflexible, disbarment would not be warranted in the Berryman case where a lengthy suspension would have met fully the objectives of the disciplinary system
How later courts described this case
- noting that except for the Addams rule, which is too inflexible, disbarment would not be warranted in the Berryman case where a lengthy suspension would have met fully the objectives of the disciplinary system
- recognizing that "[o]ur misappropriation rule 'does not require scienter; rather, it is essentially a per se offense' "
- collecting cases finding negligence where attorney was under the honest, but mistaken, belief that he or she was entitled to the use of funds that were in fact required to be maintained in trust
- “absence of a prior disciplinary record ... even when coupled with other mitigating factors, is not a sufficient [sic] to overcome the presumption of disbarment”
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
concurring:
I join entirely Judge Reid’s opinion for the court, but do not wish to be read as endorsing the current Board’s view that the Addams rule is too inflexible and should be reconsidered.