Opinion
A19-0106
05-16-2019
IN RE Petition for DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST David C. KEEGAN, a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 0054264.
ORDER
The Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility has filed a petition for disciplinary action alleging that respondent David C. Keegan has committed professional misconduct warranting public discipline, namely, entering a plea of guilty to third-degree possession of 50 or more dosages of a narcotic mixture, a felony, in violation of Minn. R. Prof. Conduct 8.4(b).
Respondent and the Director have entered into a stipulation for discipline. In it, respondent unconditionally admits the allegations in the petition, waives his rights under Rule 14, Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility (RLPR). Respondent and the Director recommend that the appropriate discipline is a public reprimand, along with disciplinary probation co-extensive with respondent’s criminal probation.
The court has independently reviewed the file and approves the recommended disposition.
Based upon all the files, records, and proceedings herein,
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
1. Respondent David C. Keegan is publicly reprimanded.
2. Respondent shall pay $900 in costs pursuant to Rule 24, RLPR.
3. Respondent is placed on probation until the conclusion of his criminal probation, currently scheduled to occur on August 7, 2020, upon the following terms and conditions:
a. Respondent shall cooperate fully with the Director’s Office in its efforts to monitor compliance with this probation. Respondent shall promptly respond to the Director’s correspondence by its due date. Respondent shall provide to the Director a current mailing address and shall immediately notify the Director of any change of address. Respondent shall cooperate with the Director’s investigation of any allegations of unprofessional conduct that may come to the Director’s attention. Upon the Director’s request, respondent shall provide authorization for release of information and documentation to verify compliance with the terms of this probation.
b. Respondent shall abide by the Minnesota Rules of Professional Conduct.
c. Respondent shall maintain total abstinence from alcohol and controlled substances, except that respondent may use prescription drugs in accordance with the direction of a prescribing physician or nurse practitioner who is fully advised of respondent’s chemical dependency before issuing the prescription.
d. Respondent shall complete the chemical-dependency assessment required as a condition of his criminal probation and participate in and complete all therapy, aftercare, or other programs recommended or prescribed as a result of the evaluation. Respondent shall also comply with all therapy, aftercare, and treatment recommendations made by his treating medical provider(s).
e. Respondent shall attend weekly meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous or another outpatient abstinence-based treatment program acceptable to the Director. Respondent
shall, by the tenth day of each month, without a specific reminder or request, submit to the Director an attendance verification on a form provided by the Director, which will provide the name, address, and telephone number of the person personally verifying respondent’s attendance. Such attendance verification shall also, upon request, be provided to respondent’s supervisor, if any.
f. Respondent shall comply with all conditions of his criminal sentence and probation.
g. Respondent shall provide the Director with confirmation of his compliance with, and the results of, any alcohol and/or drug screening administered as part of his criminal probation. Any failure to comply with the screening conditions of his criminal probation, any positive test result, or any failure to provide the Director with test results upon request shall be considered grounds for revocation of this probation. Additionally, if requested by the Director, respondent shall, at his own expense, no more than four times per month, submit to random urinalysis for alcohol and drug screening at a facility approved by the Director, and shall direct the drug-and-alcohol screening facility to provide the results of all urinalysis testing to the Director. If, after 6 months, all such tests have been negative, then the frequency of the random tests may be reduced. Respondent shall cooperate with the phone-in program established by the Director for the random test. Any failure to phone-in in accordance with the random-test program shall be considered the same as receipt of a positive test result. Any positive test result will be grounds for revoking this probation.