D. Md. L.R. 705.1

a) Allegations of Misconduct

If allegations of misconduct which, if substantiated, would warrant discipline of an

attorney, come to the attention of a judge of this Court, the judge may refer the matter to

the Court’s Disciplinary and Admissions Committee. Upon referral, the Disciplinary and

Admissions Committee may either (1) conduct its own investigation or (2) it may decline to

take action and instead refer the matter to either the Maryland Attorney Grievance

Commission, or the state bar authority serving as the basis for the attorney-respondent’s

membership in this Court’s Bar. If after its initial review, the Disciplinary and Admissions

Committee finds that further investigation is necessary, it may recommend to the Court the

appointment of an attorney-investigator as provided for in L.R. 705.1.b. If the Disciplinary

and Admissions Committee finds no reasonable basis for additional investigation, it may

recommend to the Court either (1) the initiation of formal proceedings under L.R. 705.1.c

or (2) the imposition of a warning, conditional diversion agreement, or additional conditions

as permitted by L.R. 705.1.h. If the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee finds no basis

for discipline, it may dismiss the matter and advise the attorney-respondent by letter.

b) Appointment of Attorney-Investigator

The Court, upon the recommendation of the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee,

may appoint one or more members of the Bar of the Court as attorney-investigators to

conduct the investigation. Notice of any such appointment shall be given to the attorney-respondent, and the attorney-respondent may move to disqualify any appointed attorney-investigator within fourteen (14) days of mailing the notice of appointment to the attorney-respondent’s address on file with the Clerk’s Office. After the conclusion of the

investigation, the attorney-investigator(s) shall submit to the Disciplinary and Admissions

Committee a report and recommendation that a formal proceeding be held or that the

matter be disposed of by dismissal, warning, deferral, or otherwise. Upon review of the

attorney-investigator’s report and recommendation, the Disciplinary and Admissions

Committee shall recommend to the Court whether to (1) initiate formal proceedings under

L.R. 705.1.c; (2) impose a warning, conditional diversion agreement, or additional conditions

as permitted by L.R. 705.1.h.; or (3) dismiss the matter and advise the attorney-respondent

and attorney-investigator by letter.

c) Initiation of Formal Proceedings

If formal disciplinary proceedings are to be initiated, the Court shall issue an order

requiring the attorney-respondent to show cause within thirty (30) days after service of the

order why the attorney-respondent should not be disciplined. A copy of the attorney-investigator’s report and recommendation shall accompany the show cause order. A copy of

any exhibits to the report and recommendation shall be made available to the attorney-respondent upon request.

d) Disciplinary Hearing

If the attorney-respondent’s answer to the show cause order raises any issue of material

fact to which the attorney-respondent wishes to be heard or if the attorney-respondent

wishes to be heard in mitigation, a disciplinary hearing shall be held and, insofar as possible

and necessary, the attorney-investigator may be assigned to prosecute the case. If no

attorney-investigator has been previously appointed in this matter, and an attorney-investigator is necessary in this case, the Court will appoint an attorney-investigator as

provided by L.R. 705.1.b.

e) Recommendation and Final Action

i) Following the disciplinary hearing, the presiding judge or panel of judges shall prepare

a report and recommendation of appropriate remedy and/or sanction as provided in L.R.

705.1.h for consideration by the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee. The Disciplinary

and Admissions Committee shall then recommend final action on the disciplinary matter for

consideration by the Court. The Court will determine final action in the matter, and the

Chief Judge will issue an appropriate order on behalf of the Court.

ii) If no hearing is held, the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee shall recommend

an appropriate remedy and/or sanction to the Court, as provided in L.R. 705.1.h. The Court

will review the Committee’s recommendation and determine final action in the matter. The

Chief Judge will then issue an appropriate order on behalf of the Court.

f) Confidentiality

Proceedings under L.R. 705.1 shall be confidential unless otherwise ordered in a final

order in a disciplinary proceeding, except that any opinion and order entered by the Court

disbarring, suspending, or publicly reprimanding an attorney-respondent shall be placed on

the public record, along with any panel’s report and recommendation and exhibits, but only

if said exhibits are expressly incorporated into the final order. An attorney-investigator’s

report and supporting materials shall not be publicly disclosed without prior approval by the

Disciplinary and Admissions Committee.

g) Disbarment by Consent While Under Disciplinary Investigation or Prosecution

i) An attorney-respondent may consent to disbarment while a disciplinary investigation

or proceeding is pending against that attorney by delivering to the Clerk an affidavit stating

that the attorney-respondent desires to consent to disbarment and that: (1) the attorney-respondent’s consent is freely and voluntarily rendered; (2) the attorney-respondent is not

being subjected to coercion or duress; (3) the attorney-respondent is fully aware of the

implications of so consenting; (4) the attorney-respondent is aware that there is presently

pending an investigation or proceeding involving allegations that there exists grounds for the

attorney-respondent’s discipline, the nature of which the attorney-respondent shall

specifically set forth; (5) the attorney-respondent acknowledges that the material facts so

alleged are true, unless such acknowledgment would involve the admission of a crime; and

(6) the attorney-respondent so consents because the attorney-respondent knows that if

charges were predicated upon the matters under investigation, or if the proceeding were

prosecuted, the attorney-respondent could not provide a sufficient defense.

ii) Upon receipt of the required affidavit, the Clerk shall promptly refer the affidavit to

the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee to review the petition and to determine if a

hearing is necessary. If the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee finds good cause that

disbarment by consent is appropriate without a hearing, the Court shall enter an order

disbarring the attorney-respondent.

iii) The order disbarring the attorney-respondent by consent, and the required affidavit,

shall be a matter of public record.

h) Available Sanctions and Remedies for Misconduct

i) Regardless of an attorney-respondent’s consent to the sanction, the Court may impose

upon the attorney-respondent the following sanctions: disbarment, suspension, or public or

private reprimand for professional conduct.

ii) At any point in a disciplinary proceeding, the Court may, upon recommendation of

the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee, choose to terminate the disciplinary proceeding

and either issue a warning or authorize entering into a conditional diversion agreement with

the attorney-respondent. Neither a warning nor a conditional diversion agreement

constitutes discipline by this Court.

iii) Regardless of an attorney-respondent’s consent, the Court may impose one or more

of the following conditions on an attorney-respondent in lieu of, or in addition to, either

disciplinary sanctions, a warning, or a conditional diversion agreement: (1) demonstration

through the report of a health care professional or other proper evidence that the attorney-respondent is mentally and physically competent to resume the practice of law; (2)

engagement of an attorney who is satisfactory to the Disciplinary and Admissions

Committee to monitor an attorney-respondent’s legal practice; (3) proof that former clients

have been reimbursed for any part of fees paid in advance for legal services not completed;

(4) satisfaction of any judgment providing reimbursement for any claim that arose out of the

attorney-respondent’s practice of law; (5) restitution to any client of any sum found to be

due to the client; (6) limitations on the nature or extent of the attorney-respondent’s future

practice of law in this Court; (7) payment of costs assessed by the Court; (8) issuance of an

apology; or (9) participation in a program tailored to individual circumstances that provides

the attorney-respondent with law office management assistance, lawyer assistance, treatment

for alcohol or substance abuse, psychological counseling, or specified courses in legal ethics,

professional responsibility, or continuing education. For good cause shown, the Court may

impose additional reasonable conditions not explicitly provided for in this paragraph.

iv) The Court retains the authority to require an attorney-respondent to perform

conditions, even if the attorney-respondent has not been formally disciplined, if it appears

that the conditions would benefit the attorney-respondent’s practice and possibly prevent

foreseeable acts that may warrant discipline.

v) Any conditions this Court imposes on an attorney-respondent shall not constitute

reportable disciplinary sanctions unless ordered by the Court or accompanied by a sanction

of disbarment, suspension, or public reprimand.

i) Expedited Disciplinary or Remedial Action

i) Upon receipt of information that an active member of the Bar is engaging in

professional misconduct and poses an immediate threat of causing (1) death or substantial

bodily harm to another; (2) substantial injury to the financial interest or property of another;

or (3) substantial harm to the administration of justice, including a failure to respond to

disciplinary investigation-related inquiries or court orders, the Disciplinary and Admissions

Committee may recommend the Court immediately suspend the attorney-respondent

pending a disciplinary investigation under L.R. 705.1.

ii) If the Court accepts the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee’s recommendation,

then the Court shall issue an order (1) immediately suspending the attorney-respondent’s

membership in the Bar pending an investigation under L.R. 705.1 and (2) giving the

attorney-respondent thirty (30) days to show cause why the suspension should not continue

until the Court issues a final order in the disciplinary proceeding.

iii) If the attorney-respondent does not file a timely response to the initial suspension

order, then the suspension shall continue until the Court issues a final order in the

disciplinary proceeding.

iv) If the attorney-respondent files a timely response, the Disciplinary and Admissions

Committee shall recommend to the Court whether the suspension shall continue through

the end of the disciplinary proceeding. The Court shall then issue an order either

terminating the suspension or reinstating or continuing the suspension of the attorney-respondent pending completion of the disciplinary proceeding.

j) Referrals and Complaints from Outside the Court

i) Upon receipt of a complaint from the public, a current or former litigant, or Maryland

Bar Counsel (or a similar state bar authority if located outside of the District) concerning

alleged incapacity or professional misconduct in this Court by an active member of this

Court’s Bar, the Chair of the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee shall make an initial

investigation and ensure that the complaint is not facially frivolous or unfounded. In

evaluating the complaint, the Chair of the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee may

contact the attorney-respondent and obtain an informal response to the allegations, as well

as contact the complainant for additional information.

ii) If the Chair of the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee concludes that the

complaint is either frivolous, unfounded, or fails to allege facts which, if true, would

demonstrate either professional misconduct or incapacity, the Chair may dismiss the

complaint and notify the complainant, the attorney named in the complaint, state bar

authority, and the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee of the dismissal. Otherwise, the

Chair shall refer the complaint to the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee for further

review and investigation as provided under L.R. 705.1.a. The Chair shall also advise the

referring state bar authority of the referral to the Disciplinary and Admissions Committee.

iii) Nothing in this subsection shall permit the Chair of the Disciplinary and Admissions

Committee to dismiss a Committee referral by a judge of this Court without the referring

judge’s consent. Any referral by a judge of this Court shall be referred for investigation as

provided under L.R. 705.1.a.