Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Md. v. Singh

ATTORNEY GRIEVANCE COMMISSION OF MARYLAND v. RAJ SANJEET SINGH

Misc. Docket AG No. 6

COURT OF APPEALS OF MARYLAND

Argument: February 28, 2019

September Term, 2018

July 17, 2019

Attorney Discipline - Diligence and Communication with Client - Conflict of Interest Settlement with Client - Attorney Trust Account - Suspension. An attorney successfully represented an immigrant and his spouse (a United States citizen) in obtaining conditional permanent resident status for the immigrant, for a two-year period, based on their recent marriage. The immigrant and his spouse later experienced marital difficulties. The attorney failed to communicate appropriately and to act diligently in advising the immigrant as to his options in removing the conditions on his permanent resident status before the expiration of the two-year period. Given his prior representation of both spouses, the attorney had a conflict of interest when he undertook to advise the immigrant whether he could bring criminal charges against the spouse. After the immigrant sent a complaint to Bar Counsel about a fee dispute with the attorney, the attorney refunded the legal fee to the client in return for a release without advising the client to seek independent advice concerning the release. During Bar Counsel's investigation of this matter, the attorney gave a misleading statement under oath about whether he usually complied with the rules requiring deposit of client funds in an attorney trust account. A later review of his bank records revealed his non-compliance with those rules. However, there was no evidence of misappropriation of client funds or other client harm. Under these circumstances, a 60-day suspension is the appropriate sanction.

Maryland Attorneys' Rules of Professional Conduct, 19-301.3, 19-301.4, 19-301.7, 19-301.8, 19-301.15, 19-308.1 & 19-308.4 (formerly Maryland Lawyers' Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 1.7, 1.8, 1.15, 8.1 & 8.4); Maryland Rule 19-404 (formerly Maryland Rule 16-604).

Circuit Court for Montgomery County

Case No. 448654-V

Barbera, C.J. ^*Greene McDonald Watts Hotten Getty, Adkins, Sally D. (Senior Judge, Specially Assigned), JJ.

Opinion by McDonald, J.

Greene, Watts, and Hotten, JJ., dissent.

^*Greene, J., now retired, participated in the hearing and conference of this case while an active member of this Court; after being recalled pursuant to the Maryland Constitution, Article IV, Section 3A, he also participated in the decision and adoption of this opinion.

The phrase "no harm, no foul" derives from the idea that, if a foul committed in a basketball game does not affect the outcome, the referee should not call the foul.¹ It denotes harmless error in a sports context. The rules of professional conduct governing attorneys do not allow us to adopt that approach. Many of those rules are prophylactic in nature. We must call a foul when one is committed, although the severity of the harm - or a lack of harm - may affect the sanction.

Respondent Raj Sanjeet Singh is a Maryland attorney who primarily practices immigration law from an office in Montgomery County. In 2014, Mr. Singh successfully represented an immigrant and the immigrant's spouse, who was a United States citizen, in obtaining conditional permanent resident status for the immigrant for a two-year period based on their recent marriage. Mr. Singh advised them to return to him well before that status expired in order to remove the conditions and the time limit.

The immigrant and the spouse later experienced marital difficulties. Mr. Singh failed to respond promptly to the immigrant's inquiries concerning his options as to permanent resident status. When Mr. Singh acceded to the immigrant's request in 2016 that he research potential criminal charges against the spouse, Mr. Singh had a conflict of interest based on his prior representation of both spouses. A fee dispute also ensued, and the immigrant filed a complaint with Bar Counsel.

In response, Mr. Singh gave a refund to the immigrant and forwarded to Bar Counsel a release from the client that did not comply with the ethical rule governing attorney settlements with clients. During the course of Bar Counsel's investigation, Mr. Singh also made a misleading statement under oath concerning his general compliance with the rules requiring deposit of client funds in an attorney trust account.

In the end, there was no evidence of misappropriation or any indication that client funds were used other than for their intended purpose. The immigrant ultimately obtained unconditional permanent resident status, apparently using the strategy proposed by Mr. Singh. While no one may have suffered harm from Mr. Singh's violations of the ethical rules, those rules are designed to ensure that attorneys are conscientious in their representation of clients and do not take advantage of them. Even in the absence of harm, we cannot ignore the foul. Given the context of Mr. Singh's otherwise unblemished career and successful representation of this client, the appropriate sanction for these violations is suspension for 60 days.

IBackground

A. Procedural Context

On May 24, 2018, the Attorney Grievance Commission ("Commission"), through Bar Counsel, filed a Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action against Mr. Singh, alleging that he had violated numerous provisions of the rules of professional conduct.²These included alleged violations of Rule 1.1 (competence); Rule 1.2 (scope of representation); Rule 1.3 (diligence); Rule 1.4 (communication); Rule 1.5 (reasonableness of fees); Rule 1.7 (conflict of interest - generally); Rule 1.8 (conflict of interest - specific rules); Rule 1.9 (duties to former clients); Rule 1.15 (safekeeping property); Rule 8.1 (false statement in connection with a disciplinary matter); Rule 8.4 (misconduct); as well as violations of Maryland Rules 19-404 (trust account - deposits) and 19-407 (trust account recordkeeping). Bar Counsel later withdrew the charges pertaining to the reasonableness of fees and trust account recordkeeping.

Pursuant to Rule 19-722(a), we designated Judge Kevin G. Hessler of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County to conduct a hearing concerning the alleged violations and to provide findings of fact and conclusions of law. Following a hearing in October 2018, the hearing judge concluded that Mr. Singh had violated Rule 1.3, Rule 1.4, Rule 1.7, Rule 1.8, Rule 1.15(a) & (c), Rule 8.1, Rule 8.4(a), (c), & (d), and Maryland Rule 19-404. The hearing judge concluded that there was insufficient evidence of violations of Rule 1.1, Rule 1.2, and Rule 1.9.

Bar Counsel did not except to the hearing judge's findings or conclusions other than in minor respects.³ Mr. Singh filed a number of exceptions. In particular, Mr. Singh took issue with the hearing judge's conclusions concerning the alleged violations of Rule 1.3, Rule 1.4, Rule 1.7, Rule 1.8, Rule 8.1, and Rule 8.4. Mr. Singh conceded, as he had at the hearing, that he had violated Rule 1.15 concerning safekeeping of client funds and Maryland Rule 19-404 concerning required deposits in his attorney trust account.

B. Facts

When no exception is made to a hearing judge's finding of fact, we accept it as established. Maryland Rule 19-741(b)(2)(A). When a party excepts to a finding, we must determine whether the finding is established by the requisite standard of proof - in the case of an allegation of misconduct, clear and convincing evidence. Maryland Rules 19-741(b)(2)(B), 19-727(c). We summarize below the hearing judge's findings and other undisputed matters in the record. We address any exceptions in relation to the findings to which they pertain.

Mr. Singh's Credentials and Practice

Mr. Singh has been a member of the Maryland Bar since 1998. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in accounting and earned his law degree from the University of Richmond Law School. He initially worked at PriceWaterhouseCoopers before starting his own law firm in Montgomery County in 2000. As a solo practitioner, he has focused his practice primarily on immigration law, although he has also worked on family law matters and business transactions. His immigration practice consists of family immigration, asylum applications, and deportation defense matters. During the period relevant to this case, he employed a legal assistant, Linda Villanueva, who is fluent in Spanish as well as English.

Mr. A - a Client with an Immigration Issue

This case grew out of Mr. Singh's representation of an individual who we shall refer to as Mr. A,⁴ an immigrant from Brazil. Mr. A was born in Americana, Brazil, in 1984 and came to the United States in January 2007 on a J-1 cultural exchange visa. Since coming to the United States, Mr. A has held a variety of jobs at fast food restaurants, pizzerias, and delivery and ride hailing services.

Mr. A speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and some English, although he is not fully comfortable in English. He testified through a translator at the hearing of this case,although he was able to discuss exhibits that were in English - some written by Mr. A himself. At Mr. Singh's office, Ms. Villanueva sometimes functioned as a translator, speaking with Mr. A in Spanish, and then repeating the substance in English for Mr. Singh.

On March 14, 2014, Mr. A married Mr. J, a citizen of the United States whom he had met in 2010 and who lived in Alexandria, Virginia. At the time of the marriage, Mr. A's visa was no longer valid. To address Mr. A's immigration status, Mr. A and Mr. J sought Mr. Singh's assistance.

Applying for and Obtaining a Conditional Green Card for Mr. A

On April 1, 2014, Mr. A met with Mr. Singh at his office. Mr. Singh agreed to represent Mr. A and his spouse in the effort to obtain permanent resident status for Mr. A, and the accompanying documentation, commonly known as a "green card."⁵ Mr. Singh obtained relevant information from Mr. A and Mr. J in order to file an I-130 petition ("Petition for Alien Relative") by Mr. J, an I-485...