Subchapter B. ATTORNEYS CONVICTED OF CRIMES

§ 91.31. Notification by attorneys convicted of crimes.

 Enforcement Rule 214(a) provides that an attorney convicted of a serious crime shall report the fact of such conviction to the Secretary of the Board within 20 days after the date of sentencing; and that the responsibility of the attorney to make such report shall not be abated because the conviction is under appeal or the clerk of the court has transmitted a certificate to Disciplinary Counsel pursuant to §  91.32 (relating to notification by clerks of conviction of attorneys).

 Enforcement Rule 214(b) provides that the clerk of any court within the Commonwealth in which an attorney is convicted of any crime, or in which any such conviction is reversed, shall within 20 days after such disposition transmit a certificate thereof to Disciplinary Counsel, who shall file such certificate with the Supreme Court (Form DB-18) (Certification of Conviction of Attorney).

 Enforcement Rule 214(c) provides that upon being advised that an attorney has been convicted of a crime within this Commonwealth, Disciplinary Counsel shall secure and file a Form DB-18 (Certification of Conviction of Attorney) in accordance with the provisions of §  91.32 (relating to notification by clerks of conviction of attorneys); and that if the conviction occurred in another jurisdiction, it shall be the responsibility of Disciplinary Counsel to secure and file a certificate of such conviction.

 (a)  Commencement of summary proceeding. Enforcement Rule 214(d) provides that upon the filing with the Supreme Court of a certified copy of an order demonstrating that an attorney has been convicted of a serious crime, the Court may enter a rule directing the respondent-attorney to show cause why the respondent-attorney should not be placed on temporary suspension, which rule shall be returnable within ten days.

 (b)  Subject of summary proceeding. The Note to Enforcement Rule 214(d) provides that the subject of the summary proceedings authorized by this section is limited to whether the conditions triggering the application of this section exist, i.e., proof that the respondent-attorney is the same person as the individual convicted of the offense charged and that the offense is a serious crime, and will not include such subjects as mitigating or aggravating circumstances.

 (c)  Disposition. Enforcement Rule 214(d)(2) provides that if a rule to show cause has been issued under subsection (a), and the period for response has passed without a response having been filed, or after consideration of any response, the Court may enter an order requiring temporary suspension of the practice of law by the respondent-attorney pending further definitive action under these rules.

 (d)  Effect of temporary suspension. Enforcement rule 214(d)(3) provides that any order of temporary suspension issued under subsection (c) shall preclude the respondent-attorney from accepting any new cases or other client matters, but shall not preclude the respondent-attorney from continuing to represent existing clients on existing matters during the 30 days following entry of the order of temporary suspension. The Note to Enforcement Rule 214(d) provides that permitting the respondent-attorney to continue representing existing clients for 30 days is intended to avoid undue hardship to clients and to permit a winding down of matters being handled by the respondent-attorney, and the permissible activities of the respondent-attorney are intended to be limited to only those necessary to accomplish those purposes.

 (e)  Dissolution or modification of temporary suspension. Enforcement Rule 214(d)(4) provides that:

   (1)  the respondent-attorney may at any time petition the Court for dissolution or amendment of an order of temporary suspension;

   (2)  a copy of the petition shall be served upon Disciplinary Counsel and the Secretary of the Board (see §  89.27 (relating to service upon Disciplinary Counsel));

   (3)  a hearing on the petition before a member of the Board designated by the Chair of the Board shall be held within ten business days after service of the petition on the Secretary of the Board;

   (4)  the designated Board member shall hear the petition and submit a transcript of the hearing and a recommendation to the Court within five business days after the conclusion of the hearing; and

   (5)  upon receipt of the recommendation of the designated Board member and the record relating thereto, the Court shall dissolve or modify its order, if appropriate.

 (a)  General rule. Enforcement Rule 214(f)(1) provides that upon receipt of a certificate of conviction of an attorney for a serious crime, the Court shall, in addition to any order of suspension it may enter in accordance with the provisions of §  91.34 (relating to temporary suspension upon conviction of serious crime), also refer the matter to the Board for the institution of a formal proceeding before a hearing committee in the appropriate disciplinary district in which the sole issue to be determined shall be the extent of the final discipline to be imposed, except that a disciplinary proceeding so instituted shall not be brought to hearing until all appeals from the conviction are concluded. The Office of the Secretary shall transmit the file to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel by means of Form DB-31 (Reference for Proceedings in Response to Conviction).

 (b)  Accelerated disposition. Enforcement Rule 214(f)(2) provides that:

   (1)  notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a) that a hearing shall not be held until all appeals from a conviction have been concluded, a respondent-attorney who has been temporarily suspended pursuant to §  91.34 shall have the right to request an accelerated disposition of the charges which form the basis for the temporary suspension by filing a notice with the Secretary of the Board and Disciplinary Counsel requesting accelerated disposition;

   (2)  within 30 days after filing of such a notice, Disciplinary Counsel shall file a petition for discipline, if such a petition has not already been filed, and the matter shall be assigned to a hearing committee for accelerated disposition;

   (3)  the assignment to a hearing committee shall take place within seven days after the filing of such a notice or the filing of a petition for discipline, whichever occurs later;

   (4)  thereafter the matter shall proceed and be concluded by the hearing committee, the Board and the Court without appreciable delay; and

   (5)  if a petition for discipline is not timely filed or assigned to a hearing committee for accelerated disposition under this subsection (b), the order of temporary suspension shall be automatically dissolved, but without prejudice to any pending or further proceedings under this Subchapter 91B.

   Official Note

   The Note to Enforcement Rule 214(f) provides that the ‘‘without appreciable delay’’ standard of subsection (b)(4) is derived from Barry v. Barchi, 443 U. S. 55, 66 (1979), and that appropriate steps should be taken to satisfy that requirement, such as continuous hearing sessions, procurement of daily transcript, fixing of truncated briefing schedules, conducting special sessions of the Board, etc.

 (c)  Evidence of conviction. Enforcement Rule 214(e) provides that a certificate of a conviction of an attorney for a serious crime filed under §  91.32 (relating to notification by clerks of conviction of attorneys) or §  91.33 (relating to notification by Office of Disciplinary Counsel of conviction of attorneys) shall be conclusive evidence of the commission of that crime in any disciplinary proceeding instituted against the attorney based upon the conviction.

 (a)  Enforcement Rule 214(g) provides that upon receipt of a certificate of a conviction of any attorney for a crime other than a serious crime, the Court shall take such action as it deems warranted; and that the Court may in its discretion take no action with respect to convictions for minor offenses.

 (b)  The Official Note to Enforcement Rule 214(g) provides that the actions the Court may take under Subsection (a) include reference of the matter to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for investigation and possible commencement of either a formal or informal proceeding, or reference of the matter to the Board with direction that it institute a formal proceeding.

 (a)  General rule. Enforcement Rule 214(h) provides that an attorney suspended under the provisions of §  91.34 (relating to temporary suspension upon conviction of serious crime) may be reinstated immediately upon the filing by the Board with the Supreme Court of a certificate demonstrating that the underlying conviction has been reversed, but that the reinstatement shall not terminate any formal proceeding then pending against the attorney.

 (b)  Service on Board of the Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Client Security. A copy of the certificate filed by the Board with the Supreme Court under subdivision (a) shall be served on the Board of the Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Client Security.

   Official Note

   The purpose of service on the Board of the Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Client Security is to permit it to notify the Supreme Court if disbursements have been made from the Fund with respect to dishonest conduct by the attorney whose conviction has been reversed so that the Court may determine if restitution should be made a condition of reinstatement.

 As used in this Subchapter 91B, Enforcement Rule 214(i) provides that the term ‘‘serious crime’’ means a crime that is punishable by imprisonment for one year or upward in this or any other jurisdiction.

   The provisions of this §  91.38 adopted November 14 and 17, 1989 and December 6 and 20, 1989, 20 Pa.B. 2009.