Opinion
No. 21-BG-18
09-02-2021
IN RE Kevin E. CLINESMITH, Respondent. A Suspended Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Bar Registration No. 984265)
Per Curiam:
This decision is non-precedential. Please refer to D.C. Bar R. XI, § 12.1(d) regarding the appropriate citation of this opinion.
In this disciplinary matter, Hearing Committee Number Four (the Committee) recommends approval of an amended petition for negotiated attorney discipline. See D.C. Bar R. XI, § 12.1(c). The amended petition is based on Respondent's guilty plea to one count of making a false statement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(3) for his actions in modifying a document while employed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as Assistant General Counsel in the National Security and Cyber Law Branch of the FBI's Office of General Counsel. The Committee determined this was a serious crime in violation of D.C. Bar R. XI, § 10(d), but not one involving moral turpitude, either per se or on the specific facts. The Committee concluded that Respondent's misconduct violated Rule 8.4(b) and (c) of the District of Columbia Rules of Professional Conduct. The Committee determined that the negotiated discipline of a one-year suspension nunc pro tunc to August 25, 2020—the date he self-reported his conviction to Disciplinary Counsel—was not unduly lenient.
Having reviewed the Committee's recommendation in accordance with our procedures in uncontested disciplinary cases, see D.C. Bar R. XI, § 12.1(d), we agree this case is appropriate for negotiated discipline and the proposed sanction is not unduly lenient or inconsistent with dispositions imposed for comparable professional misconduct. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that Respondent Kevin E. Clinesmith is hereby suspended from the practice of law in the District of Columbia for one year nunc pro tunc to August 25, 2020.
So ordered.