Office of Disciplinary Counsel v. Stone ( 2015 )

Electronically Filed Supreme Court SCAD-15-0000590 23-OCT-2015 08:47 AM SCAD-15-0000590 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF HAWAI#I OFFICE OF DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL, Petitioner, vs. ROBERT L. STONE, Respondent. ORIGINAL PROCEEDING (ODC CASE NOS. 14-025-9168, 14-026-9769, 14-027-9170, 14-047-9200, and 14-048-9201) ORDER ALLOWING RESIGNATION IN LIEU OF DISCIPLINE (By: Recktenwald, C.J., Nakayama, McKenna, Pollack, and Wilson, JJ.) Upon consideration of the petition submitted by the Disciplinary Board of the Hawai#i Supreme Court for an order granting the request of attorney Robert Lee Stone to resign from the practice of law in lieu of discipline, and the affidavits and exhibits attached in support thereof, we note the petition is supported by Respondent Stone’s affidavit, which meets the requirements of Rule 2.14(a) of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the State of Hawai#i (RSCH). We further note Respondent Stone admits that, when he was not licensed to practice law in this jurisdiction, he did enter into representations of six separate clients in this jurisdiction, for mortgage foreclosure defense for property located in Hawai#i, and did not disclose to the Board of Bar Examiners of the Hawai#i Supreme Court two ongoing investigations against him being conducted by the Office of Consumer Protection of the State of Hawai#i Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, three disciplinary complaints against him pending with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois, and a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Hawai#i against a former colleague, conduct which constituted multiple violations of Rules 3.3(a), 8.1(a), 8.1(b), 8.4(c) of the Hawai#i Rules of Professional Conduct (1994). Therefore, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, pursuant to RSCH Rule 2.14, that the petition is granted and Respondent Robert L. Stone’s request to resign in lieu of discipline is granted. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the resignation shall become effective 30 days after the date of this order, as provided by RSCH Rules 2.14(d) and 2.16(c). IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the Clerk of this court shall remove Respondent Stone’s name from the role of attorneys licensed to practice law in this jurisdiction and, within thirty days after entry of this order, Respondent Stone shall submit to the Clerk the original certificate evidencing his license to practice law in this jurisdiction or an affidavit establishing good cause for his failure to do so. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that Respondent Stone shall comply with the requirements of RSCH Rule 2.16 governing disbarred attorneys and the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme 2 Court of the State of Hawai#i shall provide notice of the disbarment as required by RSCH Rules 2.16(e) and 2.16(f). IT IS FINALLY ORDERED that Respondent Stone shall bear the costs of these proceedings upon the timely submission by ODC of a verified bill of costs, as authorized by RSCH Rule 2.3(c). DATED: Honolulu, Hawai#i, October 23, 2015. /s/ Mark E. Recktenwald /s/ Paula A. Nakayama /s/ Sabrina S. McKenna /s/ Richard W. Pollack /s/ Michael D. Wilson 3