In re: The Application of Solon Phillips for Admisn. to the Bar of Md

Getty, J. In this case, we are asked to consider whether to grant the application for admission to the Bar of Maryland of Solon Phillips ("Mr. Phillips"). The Character Committee for the Fourth Appellate Circuit of Maryland ("the Committee") returned a favorable recommendation without addressing the findings by this Court regarding Mr. Phillips' unauthorized practice of law in an attorney grievance proceeding. The findings by this Court in the attorney grievance action, in addition to other concerns, led the State Board of Law Examiners ("the Board") to recommend that Mr. Phillips be denied admission to the Bar of Maryland. For the reasons below, we agree with the Board that Mr. Phillips has not demonstrated that he currently possesses good moral character and fitness for the practice of law as required by Md. Rule 19-203.

As such, we deny Mr. Phillips' admission to the Bar of Maryland. BACKGROUND Mr. Phillips originally filed an application with the Board for admission to the Bar of Maryland on January 10, 2008. Mr. Phillips was ultimately successful on the bar examination held in February 2011. During the time between his application and his success on the bar examination, Mr. Phillips filed nine updates to his application and attended a hearing with the Committee in January 2012.

The Committee agreed to hold the record open for Mr. Phillips to supplement his application until July 17, 2015. The Committee issued a Report and Recommendation on November 4, 2015, recommending that Mr. Phillips' first application for admission to the Bar of Maryland be denied. Mr. Phillips obtained counsel in preparation for the hearing before the Board, which counsel for Mr. Phillips was able to postpone. Ultimately, Mr. Phillips withdrew his application to the Bar of Maryland on July 1, 2016, prior to the Board hearing.

On August 24, 2016, Mr. Phillips submitted a second application with the Board for admission to the Bar of Maryland. Attached to the second application was a document titled "Supplement: Proof of Good Moral Character," in which Mr. Phillips attempted to persuade the Board that he is of good moral character and fit for the practice of law. Specifically, the supplement discussed his financial responsibility, moral character, his voluntary choice to take classes on professional responsibility, and his voluntary choice to take the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination ("MPRE"), which is not a requirement of the Maryland Bar. In the supplement, Mr. Phillips requested to be admitted to the Maryland Bar because of his character, responsibility, and candor.

While Mr. Phillips' second application for admission to the Maryland Bar was pending, this Court issued its opinion in Attorney Grievance Comm'n of Maryland v. Phillips , in which we ultimately disbarred Dalton Phillips ("Mr. Dalton Phillips"), Mr. Phillips' father, as a result of Attorney Grievance Commission's Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action. 451 Md. 653 , 155 A.3d 476 (2017). This Court concluded that Mr. Dalton Phillips violated several Rules of Professional Conduct when he assisted Mr. Phillips, his son, in the unauthorized practice of law. Specifically, this Court found that Mr. Phillips graduated from law school in 2008, but did not seek admission to the Bar of Maryland until 2011. In August 2009, Mr. Phillips discussed forming a law firm with Mr. Dalton Phillips.

In pursuit of that goal, Mr. Phillips filed Articles of Organization with the Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation on behalf of the law firm Phillips, Phillips and Dow, LLC. The law firm was to include Mr. Phillips, Anthony Dow, a friend of Mr. Phillips from high school, and Mr. Dalton Phillips. This Court could not discern from the record whether Anthony Dow was aware that his name was listed as a member in the law firm. In establishing the law firm, Mr. Phillips "created a law firm insignia; hired an answering service for the firm; reserved a domain name; and created and ordered letterhead that included the firm name, Solon Phillips's home address, the phone number associated with the answering service, and the firm website.

He also ordered business cards for himself using the firm insignia and the suffix 'Esq.'." Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Phillips , 451 Md. at 661 , 155 A.3d 476 . After establishing a law firm before being admitted to the Maryland Bar, Mr. Phillips later met Crystal Meehan on an internet support group. Crystal Meehan told Mr. Phillips about "unwanted communications that [she] had been receiving from her ex-husband's current wife, Abigail Meehan," who lived in Indiana. Id. at 661 , 155 A.3d 476 .

Mr. Phillips drafted a cease and desist letter, ordering Abigail Meehan to discontinue all communications with Crystal Meehan as those communications constituted harassment. The letter also threatened Abigail Meehan with legal action. Mr. Phillips then "corresponded over e-mail with Crystal Meehan, provided her with a draft of the letter signed 'Solon Phillips JD/MBA,' and received her approval of the letter. He then printed the letter on Phillips, Phillips and Dow, LLC letterhead.

The content of the final letter was altered in only one regard-Solon Phillips signed [Mr. Dalton Phillips'] name to the letter, not his own." Id. After receiving the cease and desist letter, Abigail Meehan attempted to contact the firm and ultimately corresponded with Mr. Dalton Phillips. In an email to Abigail Meehan, Mr. Dalton Phillips stated that the "letter was issued without [his] knowledge," and acknowledged "that Ms. Crystal Meehan is a client of [Phillips, Phillips, and Dow, LLC]." Id. at 662 , 155 A.3d 476 . In June 2014, Abigail Meehan filed a complaint with the Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission, alleging that the law firm and the attorneys should not be sending her letters.

In response to the complaint, the Attorney Grievance Commission began investigating Mr. Dalton Phillips, the law firm, and Mr. Phillips. After the investigation, the Attorney Grievance Commission filed a Petition for Disciplinary or Remedial Action against Mr. Dalton Phillips. This Court concluded that "[Mr.] Phillips was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law. [Mr. Dalton Phillips] had actual knowledge of the unauthorized practice of law at the time Abigail Meehan emailed him a copy of the cease and desist letter. In his email to Abigail Meehan on May 29, 2014, [Mr. Dalton Phillips] ratified [Mr.] Phillips' unauthorized practice." Id. at 673 , 155 A.3d 476 .

After reviewing the second application, the Committee issued a second Report and Recommendation on June 2, 2017, recommending that Mr. Phillips be admitted to the Bar of Maryland. However, the Committee did not fully consider this Court's opinion in Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Phillips . The second application for admission to the Maryland Bar was then submitted to the Board. After reviewing the Committee Report and Recommendation, the Board concluded that there may be grounds for denying Mr. Phillips' application.

As such, the Board held a four-member panel hearing on July 21, 2017, 1 for which Mr. Phillips appeared represented by counsel, Paul Mark Sandler ("Mr. Sandler"). Pursuant to Md. Rule 19-203(b), the Board offered Mr. Phillips an opportunity to withdraw his application before the Board submitted a Report, recommending the denial of Mr. Phillips' application, to this Court. Mr. Phillips declined to withdraw his application. On October 10, 2017, the Board filed its Report and Recommendation, concluding that Mr. Phillips did not meet his burden in proving that he possesses the character and fitness for admission to the Bar of Maryland.

In the Report and Recommendation, the Board considered the factual findings and conclusions in Attorney Grievance Comm'n v. Phillips . Specifically, the Board found that Mr. Phillips admitted to drafting and sending the cease and desist letter to Abigail Meehan, thereby also admitting that he was practicing law without authorization. Moreover, the Board found that Mr. Phillips failed to disclose to the Board in any of the updates or supplements to his original application for admission that the Attorney Grievance Commission was investigating Mr. Dalton Phillips as a result of his unauthorized practice of law. The Board reported that Mr. Phillips never informed the Board about the Attorney Grievance Commission investigation before Mr. Phillips withdrew his original application on July 1, 2016.

As part of Mr. Phillips failure to disclose this information, the Board noted further that the document attached to the second application, "Supplement: Proof of Good Moral Character," included a passage reading, "I had no idea that my acts as it pertains to my father's hearing constituted the unauthorized practice of law." Yet, in the Board hearing, Mr. Phillips testified that he knew it was wrong at the time. In addition to Mr. Phillips' omissions regarding the Attorney Grievance Commission matter, the Board also reported that Mr. Phillips applied for the Florida Bar in May 2017. Mr. Phillips failed to notify the Committee during his initial character interview of this application. Moreover, Mr. Phillips did not update his Maryland Bar application answers to reflect his application to the Bar of Florida.

Ultimately, all of the Board members recommended that this Court deny Mr. Phillips' admission to the Maryland Bar. Specifically, the Board was convinced that Mr. Phillips did not meet his burden of proof in demonstrating that he is of good moral character and fit for the practice of law for the following reasons: [Mr. Phillips] has not been candid in this process. Partial or selective recitation of the facts is not acceptable. Full supplementation is required. [Mr. Phillips] has not taken seriously the need for disclosure regarding the questions in the bar application.

In addition to his not disclosing the facts regarding his father's disbarment, he continued his non-disclosure by failing to supplement the fact that he applied to another Bar. [Mr. Phillips] has failed to recognize the seriousness of the conduct that got his father disbarred or to understand the disclosure requirements of the Bar admission process. He concedes that he lacked good judgment in his attempt to assist a friend by implicating himself in the unauthorized practice of law For the reasons stated above, after consideration of all the facts and evidence, the Board unanimously finds [Mr. Phillips] has not met his burden to demonstrate that he possesses the character and fitness for admission to the Maryland Bar. Upon receiving the Report and Recommendation from the Board, this Court issued an Order on October 19, 2017, denying Mr. Phillips admission to the Bar of Maryland. 2 This Court subsequently entered a second Order on October 25, 2017, granting Mr. Phillips a hearing to show cause why this Court should reject the Board's recommendation. See Md. Rule 19-203(c) ("If the Court, after reviewing the report of the Character Committee and any report of the Board, believes there may be grounds to deny admission, the Court shall order the applicant to appear for a hearing and show cause why the application should not be denied.").

Pursuant to the second Order, Mr. Phillips appeared before this Court on Monday, November 6, 2017, and urged this Court to accept the Committee's recommendation and reject the Board's recommendation. On December 11, 2017, the Board submitted an addendum to its Report and Recommendation to this Court. The addendum indicated that the Board received information suggesting that Mr. Phillips again lacked candor regarding his status as a licensed attorney in Maryland. Specifically, the addendum attached email correspondence from A. Valerie Mirko, Esquire ("Ms. Mirko"), a member of good standing in the bars of New York and the District of Columbia.

The addendum further indicated that Ms. Mirko is currently employed for the General Counsel for the North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA"). Ms. Mirko sent the email correspondence to the Attorney Grievance Commission, explaining that she received a resume from Mr. Phillips in response to a job opening with the NASAA, which required applicants to be admitted to a state bar. Mr. Phillips' resume included the statement "Maryland Bar Admission [.]" After reviewing Mr. Phillips' resume, NASAA initially invited Mr. Phillips for an interview to be held on November 30, 2017. However, Ms. Mirko was unable to find Mr. Phillips in the Maryland attorney directory as of November 30, 2017.

At the interview, Ms. Mirko specifically asked Mr. Phillips why his name does not appear on the directory, to which Mr. Phillips responded that he was not yet barred in Maryland but would be admitted in December 2017. Ms. Mirko included this information in an email to the Attorney Grievance Commission as well as in an affidavit. In the addendum, the Board determined that this new information is evidence that Mr. Phillips continues to display a lack of candor and does not recognize the enormity of his prior unauthorized practice of law. On December 12, 2017, Mr. Phillips submitted a "Motion to Supplement Record and Accept Explanation for Resume Sent to NASAA and to Grant Acceptance Into Maryland Bar" to this Court.

In the motion, Mr. Phillips stated that he believed the position with NASAA required only a juris doctor degree ("J.D.") as opposed to a bar membership due to the description of the position on the website, Indeed.com. Moreover, Mr. Phillips asserted that he initially applied to the position with his proper resume, which is saved on Indeed.com. When NASAA asked Mr. Phillips to submit an additional copy of his resume by email, Mr. Phillips maintained that he accidentally sent a version of his "vision" resume, which indicated that he has a "Maryland Bar Admission[.]" Both his "vision" resume and his standard resume use [email protected] as the email address to contact Mr. Phillips and represent that his work history includes approximately seven years as a "Junior Associate" at the law firm, Arnold & Porter, LLP. Mr. Phillips also asserted that during the November 30th interview, Mr. Phillips told Ms. Mirko that he was not admitted to a state bar, but "was hoping to be barred soon, as early as December perhaps[.]" Mr. Phillips indicated that sometime "[l]ater" he called the human resources director, Ms. Irene Maldonado ("Ms. Maldonado") with NASAA to discuss "the miscommunication." Moreover, Mr. Phillips indicated that he emailed Ms. Maldonado a copy of his Indeed.com resume, apologizing for the confusion.

Mr. Phillips attached a copy of the email sent to Ms. Maldonado on December 11, 2017 at 1:49 p.m. by Mr. Phillips using the email, "[email protected] [.]" Overall, Mr. Phillips argued in his motion that his mistake in sending a resume that indicated he was barred by the State of Maryland does not constitute a knowing misrepresentation; therefore, Mr. Phillips requested this Court to "not hold this mistake against him[.]" Specifically, Mr. Phillips concluded by noting that he was "respectfully shar[ing] this information with the Court[.]" STANDARD OF REVIEW The issue presented is whether Mr. Phillips has met his burden of proving that he possesses "good moral character and fitness for the practice of law." Md. Rule 19-203(d); see also In re Application of Brown , 392 Md. 44 , 54, 895 A.2d 1050 (2006). "Good moral character is denoted by 'those qualities of truth-speaking, of a high sense of honor, of granite discretion, of the strictest observance of fiduciary responsibility.' " In re Application of Strzempek , 407 Md. 102 , 112, 962 A.2d 988 (2008) (citations omitted). "Thus, the 'ultimate test of present moral character, applicable to original admissions to the Bar, is whether, viewing the applicant's character in the period subsequent to his misconduct, he has so convincingly rehabilitated himself that it is proper that he become a member of a profession which must stand free from all suspicion.' " In re Application of Stern , 403 Md. 615 , 629, 943 A.2d 1247 (2008) (citations omitted). "The Board's conclusions that an applicant does not possess the requisite moral character, and recommendation against admission to the Bar, are entitled to great weight.

This Court, however, is charged with the responsibility to conduct an independent evaluation of the applicant's moral character based upon testimony and evidence submitted before the Committee and the Board." In re Application of T.Z.-A.O. , 441 Md. 65 , 73, 105 A.3d 492 (2014) (citations omitted). DISCUSSION Mr. Phillips contends that the Board relied on incorrect information in recommending that he did not meet his burden in demonstrating that he possesses the moral character and fitness necessary for admission to the Bar of Maryland. Specifically, Mr. Phillips asserts that he discussed his unauthorized practice of law leading to the Attorney Grievance Commission's investigation of Mr. Dalton Phillips during the character interview with one of the Committee members. Moreover, Mr. Phillips urges this Court to read the transcript of the Board hearing as an indication that he also disclosed the unauthorized practice of law and the application to the Florida Bar during the Board hearing.

Overall, Mr. Phillips suggests that one instance of bad conduct does not reflect bad moral character; instead, he insists that he knows the difference between right and wrong and continually acts to conform with what is right. Md. Rule 19-203(d) mandates that the "applicant bears the burden of proving ... the applicant's good moral character and fitness for the practice of law. Failure or refusal to answer fully and candidly any question in the application or any relevant question asked by a member of the Character Committee, the Board, or the Court is sufficient cause for a finding that the applicant has not met this burden ." (Emphasis added). "From a profession charged with such responsibilities there must be exacted those qualities of