Opinion
No. 160 DB2012 Attorney Registration No. 55156
2013-09-30
OFFICE OF DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL Petitioner v. JOHN ANTHONY BELLINO Respondent
(Luzerne County)
PUBLIC REPRIMAND
John Anthony Bellino, you stand before the Disciplinary Board, your professional peers and members of the public for the imposition of a Public Reprimand. It is an unpleasant task to publicly reprimand one who has been granted the privilege of membership in the bar of this Commonwealth. Yet as repugnant as this task may be, it has been deemed necessary that you receive this public discipline. We note that you agreed to a Public Reprimand by a joint petition in support of discipline on consent.
Mr. Bellino, you were appointed by Order of the Luzerne County Court as Administrator of the Estate of Virginia Dale in 1999. Your failure to administer and settle the Estate prompted a disciplinary complaint to be filed against you in the latter part of 2004 by Ms. Ginny Dale, daughter of the decedent. In March 2005, you received a letter of concern from the Office of Disciplinary Counsel regarding your inactivity on the Estate.
This letter of concern did not cause you to take action on the Estate, prompting a second disciplinary complaint filed against you in January 2008 by Amy Spess, another daughter of the decedent. The complaint resulted in the imposition of an Informal Admonition upon you in January 2009, for violation of Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(d) - Conduct Prejudicial to the Administration of Justice. During the Informal Admonition, you advised Chief Disciplinary Counsel that you were aware that the delay in resolving the Dale Estate was much too long and you should have been more attentive to the case.
Despite this Informal Admonition, your pattern of inactivity resumed. Ms. Spess, through counsel, filed a Petition for Rule to File First and Final Account, which resulted in your receipt of a Citation to File Account, returnable on December 11, 2009. On that date, you requested and were granted additional time to file the First and Final Account, until January 11, 2010, yet you failed to file the Account by this deadline.
The attorney for Ms. Spess filed a Motion for Imposition of Sanctions, seeking monetary sanctions and your removal as Administrator. The Rule was returnable for February 25, 2010. Additionally, Ms. Spess filed the instant disciplinary complaint against you based on your continuing inactivity.
On February 24, 2010, at a conference involving all parties, you told the Judge that the delay in filing the Accounting was your fault and you apologized to the Court. You filed the First and Final Account on February 25, 2010. This was approximately eleven years after the decedent's death, approximately ten and a half years after your appointment as the Estate Personal Representative, five years after the letter of concern, and nearly 13 months after the Informal Admonition.
Your conduct in this matter has violated the following Rule of Professional Conduct:
1. RPC 8.4(d) - It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.
Other than the Informal Admonition described above, you have not received professional discipline in any other matters. You cooperated with Petitioner and admitted and acknowledged engaging in the misconduct upon which this disciplinary prosecution is based.
Mr. Bellino, your conduct in this matter is now fully public. This Public Reprimand is a matter of public record.
As you stand before the Board today, we remind you that you have a continuing obligation to abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement. This Public Reprimand is proof that Pennsylvania lawyers will not be permitted to engage in conduct that falls below professional standards. Be mindful that any future dereliction will subject you to disciplinary action.
This Public Reprimand shall be posted on the Disciplinary Board's website at www.padisciplinarvboard.org.
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Designated Member
The Disciplinary Board of the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Administered by a designated panel of three Members of The Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 2013.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The undersigned, Respondent in the above proceeding, herewith acknowledges that the above Public Reprimand was administered in his presence and in the presence of the designated panel of The Disciplinary Board at 16th Floor, Seven Penn Center, 1635 Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 2013.
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John Anthony Bellino