Michael Stephen Wade v. Kentucky Bar Association ( 2020 )

TO BE PUBLISHED
Supreme Court of Kentucky
2020-SC-000050-KB
MICHAEL STEPHEN WADE MOVANT
V. IN SUPREME COURT
KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION RESPONDENT
OPINION AND ORDER
Michael Stephen Wade1 was suspended from the practice of law on
October 26, 2012, by order of this Court entered on September 22, 2016.2
Wade filed an application for reinstatement under SCR3 3.510,4 and the Board
of Governors recommended that we deny the application. For the following
reasons, we deny Wade’s application for reinstatement to the practice of law in
the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
1 Wade’s KBA number is 91281, and he was admitted to practice law in
Kentucky on May 1, 2006. His bar roster address is 966 Pinetop Road, Russell
Springs, Kentucky 42642.
2 See Wade v. Kentucky Bar Ass’n, 498 S.W.3d 783 (Ky. 2016).
3 Supreme Court Rule.
4 SCR 3.510 details the process by which suspended attorneys may be
reinstated to the Kentucky bar. Per SCR 3.510(4), if the attorney’s suspension has
lasted for five or more years, the Director shall refer the application to the Character
and Fitness Committee for proceedings under SCR 2.300.
I. BACKGROUND
Wade’s suspension was the result of two charges of professional
misconduct related to two separate criminal proceedings in Jefferson and
Bullitt Counties. In the Jefferson County case, Wade was charged with second-
degree criminal possession of a forged instrument for endorsing a settlement
check with both his and his client’s names. He was also charged with theft by
failure to make a required distribution for the belated distribution of settlement
funds to his client. Wade entered an Alford plea as part of an agreement to
receive felony pretrial diversion for four years. The Bullitt County case
concerned drug-related offenses, which were resolved by a guilty plea subject to
receiving felony pretrial diversion.
In 2016, this Court suspended Wade from the practice of law for four
years and six months, retroactive from October 26, 2012, to April 26, 2017, or
until he satisfied the full terms and conditions of the criminal proceedings in
the Bullitt and Jefferson County cases, whichever event were to occur last.5
The order also made his reinstatement subject to approval from the Character
and Fitness Committee under SCR 3.505,6 and it imposed the condition that
Wade continue participation in KYLAP and execute a release in favor of the
Office of Bar Counsel so that Bar Counsel could obtain status-report
information concerning his participation in KYLAP.7
5 Wade, 498 S.W.3d at 785.
6SCR 3.505 provides, in relevant part, that the Character and Fitness
Committee shall consider all applications for reinstatement to the practice of law by
persons who have been suspended for more than 180 days. See SCR 3.505(1)(a).
7 Wade, 498 S.W.3d at 785–86. KYLAP is the Kentucky Lawyer Assistance
Program.
2
Wade filed his application for reinstatement on November 1, 2018. The
application included a Continuing Legal Education Certification, a statement
from Bar Counsel that Wade had not been the subject of any claims against the
Client’s Security Fund, a criminal history report, and affidavits from three
practicing attorneys acknowledging Wade’s past criminal charges and history of
addictions but recommending he be reinstated.
Upon receipt of Wade’s application, the Character and Fitness Committee
instructed Wade by letter to file a Character and Fitness Questionnaire for
Certification for Reinstatement Form (“Questionnaire”), and provided directions
on how to complete it, under SCR 2.300(1)(e).8 Having not received Wade’s
Questionnaire, the Character and Fitness Committee sent Wade another letter
in March 2019, advising him to complete the Questionnaire and submit it
within thirty days of the date of the letter or the Committee could make an
unfavorable recommendation under SCR 2.300(1)(f). Wade responded by letter
in April 2019, stating that he needed assistance in resetting his log-in
information and that he would be contacting Lisa Larkey, the analyst assigned
to his case, for help “asap.” Wade then emailed Larkey on May 5, 2019, stating
that he was working on his Questionnaire but wanted to clarify a couple of
points with her the following day and would then submit the completed
Questionnaire. Ms. Larkey did not hear from Wade after his email.
8 SCR 2.300(1)(e) and (f), together, provide that an applicant for reinstatement
will receive from the Character and Fitness Committee an instruction to electronically
file a Character and Fitness Certification for Reinstatement Form (the Questionnaire),
and that the failure to perfect an application within thirty days of a notice of deficiency
may result in an unfavorable recommendation from the Committee.
3
Ms. Larkey followed up with Wade by email in July 2019, reminding him
that the Committee had still not received his completed Questionnaire and
asking whether he still intended to pursue his reinstatement. Wade did not
respond. In August 2019, the Office of Bar Admissions again sent Wade an
email and letter reminding him of the failure to file the Questionnaire and
warning him that the Committee would send a negative recommendation to the
Board of Governors if they did not receive the Questionnaire. Wade again failed
to respond.
Without the Questionnaire and required documentation, the Character
and Fitness Committee lacked the information necessary to investigate Wade’s
reinstatement. Among other things, the Committee had no records from KYLAP
because Wade failed to submit any releases allowing the Committee to ask for
information from KYLAP, no treatment records to verify sobriety, no character
references, no tax information, and no signed statement that he followed all the
conditions set forth in his 2016 order of suspension. In addition, the criminal
history report provided with Wade’s application did not confirm whether the
pretrial diversion agreements imposed in Jefferson and Bullitt Counties had
been completed.
After eight months of trying and failing to have Wade submit the
Questionnaire, the Committee issued a recommendation to deny Wade’s
application for reinstatement. Specifically, the Committee could not verify that
Wade complied with his suspension order because they did not have the
necessary release authorizations for KYLAP or information showing that Wade
satisfied all the terms and conditions of his criminal proceedings. In addition,
the Committee could not find that Wade carried his burden in showing he was
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worthy of public trust, possessed sufficient professional capabilities, presently
exhibited good moral character, or had shown contrition, remorse, and
rehabilitation. Wade was mailed a copy of a motion from bar counsel to the
Board of Governors to accept the recommendation of the Committee, but Wade
again failed to respond. In November 2019, the Board of Governors voted
unanimously to accept the negative recommendation of the Committee to deny
Wade’s application for reinstatement. Therefore, the Board recommends this
Court deny Wade’s application.
II. ANALYSIS
When an attorney, proven to have violated our rules regarding
professional conduct, seeks to be readmitted to the practice of law, he bears
the burden “of proving by clear and convincing evidence that he[] possesses the
requisite character, fitness and moral qualification for readmission[.]”9 In
determining whether the attorney has met his burden, we focus on, among
other things, whether the attorney has complied with the terms of the
suspension order.10
In this case, we agree with the Board’s recommendation to deny Wade’s
application for reinstatement because, at a minimum, Wade has not shown
compliance with our 2016 suspension order. Because of Wade’s failure to
respond to the Questionnaire, he has not shown that he has continued
participating in KYLAP or that he has satisfied all the terms and conditions of
the criminal proceedings against him. He has also not been approved by the
9 SCR 2.300(6).
10 See Haggard v. Kentucky Bar Ass’n¸ 160 S.W.3d 352, 353 (Ky. 2005); Scholl v.
Kentucky Bar Ass’n, 213 S.W.3d 687, 690 (Ky. 2007); SCR 2.300(6)(a).
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Character and Fitness Committee. As such, we must accept the
recommendation of the Board to deny Wade’s application for reinstatement.
III. ORDER
For the reasons stated, the Court ORDERS that Michael Stephen Wade’s
application for the reinstatement to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of
Kentucky is DENIED at Wade’s cost, $464.37, for which execution may issue
immediately. This order does not preclude Wade from again filing an
application for reinstatement to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of
Kentucky.
All sitting. All concur.
ENTERED: August 20, 2020
__________________________________________
CHIEF JUSTICE MINTON
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