Another example of why light sanctions set a bad example.

I have argued before that it is difficult to understand why a state would not disbar an attorney who steals from his or her client. (See here, here and here, in just the past few months.)

Now comes a new example of the problem. The Legal Profession Blog is reporting today that the District of Columbia Court of Appeals has disbarred a lawyer for his cumulative conduct over more than ten years evincing 'non-negligent misappropriation and dishonesty...' and other misconduct. The opinion is available here.

Ten years!? It took ten years of misappropriation and dishonesty to get rid of this guy?!

But wait a minute, they did disbar him; so what am I complaining about?

Well, here it is: the lawyer in this case had already been disciplined (back in 2001) for similar conduct. At that time, the hearing committee recommended disbarment but the Board on Professional Responsibility and the Court rejected that recommendation in favor of a mere six-month suspension. Way to set a great example with a nice slap on the wrist, guys! Much good it did. And so a lawyer was allowed to continue to engage in misconduct for another 8 years.

As Mike Frisch, of the Legal Profession Law Blog states -- and I agree -- if the recommendation to disbar had been followed 8 years ago, a lot of time, trouble and additional victims would have been avoided.