In re Reich ( 2020 )

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
No. 16-BG-464
IN RE STEPHANIE G. REICH, RESPONDENT.
A Member of the Bar of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
(Bar Registration No. 473039)
On Report and Recommendation of the Board on Professional
Responsibility Ad Hoc Hearing Committee
Approving Petition for Negotiated Discipline
(BDN 241-15)
(Decided: September 10, 2020)
Before THOMPSON and DEAHL, Associate Judges, and NEBEKER, Senior Judge
PER CURIAM: This decision is non-precedential.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, the Ad Hoc Hearing Committee (the Committee)
recommends approval of a petition for negotiated attorney discipline. See D.C. Bar
R. XI, § 12.1(c). The petition is based on the finding that Respondent’s conviction
for making a false statement to obtain unemployment compensation did not
constitute moral turpitude per se. The Committee found that “circumstances in
2
which Respondent found herself [a “volunteer” for the Gray campaign who was paid
a stipend] may not have been employment at all” within the meaning of the
unemployment compensation statute. 1
Respondent acknowledged that she committed a misdemeanor crime in
violation of D.C. Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4(b) and 8.4(c). The proposed
discipline is a three-year suspension without a fitness requirement nunc pro tunc to
July 5, 2016, the date she filed her D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14(g) affidavit.
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 disposition is not
unduly lenient or inconsistent with dispositions imposed for comparable
professional misconduct. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that Respondent Stephanie G. Reich is hereby suspended from
the practice of law for three years, nunc pro tunc to July 5, 2016, the date on which
Respondent filed a compliant D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14(g) affidavit with this court.
1
Report and Recommendation of the Ad Hoc Hearing Committee at 15.
3
So ordered.