Washington Lawyer - April 2019 - 44

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARIES
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Disciplinary Actions Taken
by the District of Columbia
Court of Appeals
Original Matters
In re Brian S. Brown. Bar No.
399542. January 24, 2019. The D.C.
Court of Appeals accepted
Brown's petition for negotiated
discipline and suspended him for
30 days, stayed in favor of six
months of unsupervised probation with conditions. Brown
acknowledged that in connection
with a single matter, he (1) failed
to serve a client with skill and care,
(2) failed to zealously and diligently represent a client, (3) intentionally failed to pursue clients'
lawful objectives, (4) failed to keep
clients reasonably informed, and
(5) failed to explain matters to a
client, thereby violating Rules
1.1(b), 1.3(a), 1.3(b)(1), 1.4(a), and
1.4(b) of the D.C. Rules of
Professional Conduct.
In re Ahmed M. Elhillali. Bar No.
446927. January 3, 2019. The D.C.
Court of Appeals revoked
Elhillali's license as a special legal
consultant, without any right to
reapply for this license for five
years. In addition, the court
ordered that Elhillali not be
granted a license after the revocation period, unless he pays
restitution and proves his fitness
to practice as a special legal consultant. Elhillali, a special legal
consultant licensed by the D.C.
Court of Appeals, was separately
retained by two clients to represent them in immigration
matters. During the course of the
representations, Elhillali held
himself out as licensed to practice
law in the District of Columbia
although he was not authorized
to do so, and failed to explain the
matters to the extent reasonably
necessary to permit the client
to make informed decisions
regarding the representation.

In addition, with regard to one
of the clients, Elhillali violated
rules pertaining to termination
of representation and theft, in
violation of D.C. Code § 22-3211.
Rules 1.4(b), 1.16(d), 5.5(a), 8.4(b),
and 8.4(c).
In re Tilman L. Gerald. Bar No.
928796. January 24, 2019. The D.C.
Court of Appeals accepted
Gerald's petition for negotiated
discipline and suspended him for
90 days, with 60 days stayed in
favor of one year of unsupervised
probation, effective 30 days from
the date of the opinion with conditions. Gerald acknowledged that
he (1) failed to provide competent
representation and serve a client
with skill and care, (2) failed to
zealously and diligently represent
a client, (3) failed to act with reasonable promptness, (4) failed to
keep a client reasonably informed,
(5) failed to explain matters to a
client, (6) failed to explain his fee
and scope of representation, or (7)
failed to explain his contingency
fee, thereby violating Rules 1.1(a),
1.1(b), 1.3(a), 1.3(c), 1.4(a), and 1.4(b)
of the D.C. Rules of Professional
Conduct.
In re Dan Haendel. Bar No. 287326.
January 3, 2019. The D.C. Court of
Appeals disbarred Haendel
pursuant to D.C. Code § 11-2503(a)
based on his conviction of a crime
involving moral turpitude per se,
for which disbarment is mandatory. Haendel was convicted in the
Circuit Court for the City of
Staunton, Virginia, of Va. Code §
18.2-370 (taking indecent liberties
with children) and Va. Code § 18.2374.3 (use of communications
systems to facilitate certain
offenses involving children).
Reciprocal Matters
In re Michael D. Dobbs. Bar No.
414771. January 17, 2019. In a reciprocal matter from Maryland, the

D.C. Court of Appeals imposed
reciprocal discipline and disbarred
Dobbs. In Maryland, Dobbs consented to discipline based upon
his guilty plea to one count of
sexual solicitation of a minor.
In re Karen H. Ross. Bar No. 499517.
January 17, 2019. In a reciprocal
matter from Nevada, the D.C.
Court of Appeals imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended
Ross for three years, nunc pro tunc
to November 28, 2018, with all but
the first six months stayed in favor
of a six-month suspension
followed by a two-year, six-month
period of probation subject to the
conditions imposed by the state
of Nevada. In Nevada, Ross
admitted failing to safeguard
client funds, commingling, and
failing to promptly deliver
entrusted funds.
In re Dana Lauren Tapper. Bar No.
1025021. January 17, 2019. In a
reciprocal matter from Virginia,
the D.C. Court of Appeals imposed
functionally equivalent reciprocal
discipline and disbarred Tapper.
Tapper consented to revocation in
Virginia based upon her guilty
plea to providing a cellular phone
to an inmate and conspiring to
deliver a controlled substance to
an inmate.

recommendation of a one-year
suspension with fitness.
In re Paul J. Manafort Jr. Bar No.
247486. January 10, 2019. Manafort
was suspended on an interim
basis based upon his conviction
of a serious crime in the United
States District Court for the District
of Columbia.
In re Martin F. McMahon. Bar
No. 196642. January 23, 2019.
McMahon was suspended on an
interim basis based upon discipline imposed in Virginia.
In re Luis F. Salgado. Bar No.
342444. January 24, 2019. Salgado
was suspended on an interim
basis pursuant to D.C. Bar R. XI,
§ 9(g), pending final action
on the Board on Professional
Responsibility's October 23, 2018,
recommendation of a 30-day
suspension with fitness.
In re Charles L. Tobias. Bar No.
417437. January 23, 2019. Tobias
was suspended on an interim
basis based upon discipline
imposed in Maryland.
In re Anthony Jacob Zappin. Bar
No. 1008991. January 9, 2019.
Zappin was suspended on an
interim basis based upon discipline imposed in New York.

Interim Suspensions Issued by
the District of Columbia Court
of Appeals

Informal Admonitions Issued
by the Office of Disciplinary
Counsel

In re Charles B. Bailey. Bar No.
456393. January 9, 2019. Bailey was
suspended on an interim basis
based upon discipline imposed in
Maryland.

In re Lan P. Nguyen. Bar No.
500788. December 17, 2018.
Disciplinary Counsel issued
Nguyen an informal admonition.
After the Securities and Exchange
Commission found that Nguyen
failed to exercise independent
legal judgment while working as
special counsel for another
attorney, Nguyen misrepresented
her involvement in the registration
statements and opinion letters
filed with the SEC. Rule 8.4(c).

In re Edward Gonzalez. Bar No.
426584. January 18, 2019. Gonzalez
was suspended on an interim
basis pursuant to D.C. Bar R. XI,
§ 9(g), pending final action on
the Board on Professional
Responsibility's October 24, 2018,

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44 WASHINGTON LAWYER

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APRIL 2019

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http://dcbar.org
Washington Lawyer - April 2019

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