Opinion
No. 17-BG-228
03-14-2019
IN RE Sharon STYLES-ANDERSON, Respondent. A Suspended Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (Bar Registration No. 412158)
Per Curiam:
In this reciprocal-discipline matter, the Board on Professional Responsibility recommends that respondent Sharon Styles-Anderson be suspended from the practice of law in the District of Columbia for fifteen months, be required to prove fitness before reinstatement, and make restitution in a separate disciplinary matter. Neither Ms. Styles-Anderson nor Disciplinary Counsel takes exception to the Board's recommendation.
The Board found as follows. Ms. Styles-Anderson is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, but is not admitted to practice in Virginia. In 2015, Ms. Styles-Anderson represented a juvenile in state-court proceedings in Virginia. Ms. Styles-Anderson initially was not affiliated with local counsel, and she admits that she affirmatively misrepresented her status as a non-Virginia attorney when she entered her appearance. As part of this representation, Ms. Styles-Anderson collected legal fees, including advance legal fees that Ms. Styles-Anderson did not deposit into a trust account. The parents of the juvenile represented by Ms. Styles-Anderson retained counsel to recover the fees from Ms. Styles-Anderson. Ms. Styles-Anderson agreed that her conduct violated numerous of the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. Pursuant to an agreed disposition, Ms. Style-Anderson was suspended from the practice of law in Virginia for fifteen months. Subsequently, this court temporarily suspended Ms. Styles-Anderson from the practice of law in the District of Columbia, pending resolution of a reciprocal-discipline proceeding. On September 15, 2017, Ms. Styles-Anderson filed the affidavit required by D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14(g), attesting that Ms. Styles-Anderson had informed her clients that she could no longer represent them. In reciprocal-discipline matters, identical discipline will ordinarily be imposed. D.C. Bar R. XI, § 11(c). The Board in this case recommended an identical fifteen-month suspension from the practice of law in the District of Columbia, with a fitness requirement and the requirement that Ms. Styles-Anderson make restitution in a separate disciplinary matter, In re Styles-Anderson , 184 A.3d 846, 847-48 (D.C. 2018) (per curiam). The Board further recommended that this sanction run concurrently with the sanction imposed in the other matter.
Except in circumstances not applicable here, "if no exceptions are filed to the Board's report, the [c]ourt will enter an order imposing the discipline recommended by the Board." D.C. Bar R. XI, § 9(h)(2); see In re Viehe , 762 A.2d 542, 543 (D.C. 2000) (per curiam) ("When ... there are no exceptions to the Board's report and recommendation, our deferential standard of review becomes even more deferential."). We discern no reason to depart from the Board's recommendation.
Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that Sharon Styles-Anderson is suspended for fifteen months, nunc pro tunc to September 15, 2017, and that, per the sanction imposed in her earlier discipline matter, she be required to prove her fitness to practice and make restitution in the earlier matter before reinstatement. In re Styles-Anderson , 184 A.3d at 847-48.
So ordered.