In re the Reinstatement to the Bar of Maryland of Keehan

PER CURIAM: The Attorney Grievance Commission charged Michael Patrick Keehan with violations of the former Code of Professional Responsibility, DR 1-101(A), which subjects a lawyer “to discipline if he has made a materially false statement in, or if he has deliberately failed to disclose a material fact requested in connection with, his application for admission to the bar.” The matter was referred to the Honorable A. Owen Hennegan of the Circuit Court for Baltimore County, who found as a fact that Keehan had violated the rule when, as a Maryland resident and a member of the Pennsylvania bar, he submitted an application for admission to the Maryland bar pursuant to Maryland Rule 14 of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar. That Rule permits a member of the bar of another state to seek admission to the bar of this State if “for at least five of the seven years immediately preceding the filing of his petition [the petitioner] has been regularly engaged ... as a practitioner of law....” A “practitioner of law,” for purposes of Rule 14, is defined in the rule as a member of the bar of another state who throughout the period specified in the petition has regularly engaged in the practice of law in such jurisdiction as the principal means of earning his livelihood and whose entire professional experience and responsibilities have been sufficient to satisfy the Board that the petitioner should be admitted under this Rule. Keehan graduated from the University of Baltimore School of Law in 1973. He was unsuccessful in several attempts to pass the Maryland Bar Examination.

Beginning in Septem ¹²³ ber of 1972, Keehan was employed as a claims adjuster by the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company (USF & G), remaining there until March of 1982 while residing and working in Baltimore. In the meantime, Keehan passed the Pennsylvania bar examination and was admitted to practice in that State on November 24, 1974. From 1975 until 1982, Keehan shared a law office gratuitously in York, Pennsylvania, where his practice was described by Judge Hennegan as “minimal.” Keehan petitioned for admission to the Maryland bar under Rule 14 on May 12, 1980, representing on his application that he qualified for admission to the Maryland bar as an out-of-state attorney under the rule. He claimed that he had been a practitioner of law, as defined in Rule 14, as the principal means of earning his livelihood was “the practice of law” for at least five years during the seven-year period beginning in May 1973.

Keehan did not disclose in his application for admission to the bar his full-time employment with USF & G in Baltimore nor his office-sharing arrangement in Pennsylvania. Based on the averments of his application, Keehan was admitted to the Maryland bar in November 1981. Subsequently, the Attorney Grievance Commission filed a Petition for Disciplinary Action against him, alleging violation of DR 1-101(A) for misrepresenting his eligibility for admission to the Maryland bar without taking the regular bar examination. Judge Hennegan concluded that Keehan had violated Rule DR 1-101(A) in that he “did ... deliberately misrepresent and make false and material misstatements in answer to questions 11(a) and (b) and further that his failure to disclose his full-time employment in answer to question 12 could have readily misled the bar examiners.” Moreover, Judge Hennegan stated that “if the examiners had been alerted, an inquiry would certainly have been made which may have divulged some material information concerning [Keehan] prior to his application and admission to the Maryland Bar.” In agreeing with Judge Hennegan’s findings, we made these observations: ¹²⁴ Rule 14 is designed to afford a benefit to lawyers who have practiced lawfully for at least a minimum period of time.

The benefit occurs because a lawyer who meets the rule’s practice requirements is excused from taking the comprehensive two-day bar examination normally required of those who seek admission to practice in Maryland. Instead, the out-of-state-attorney applicant need submit to a test of but three hours duration, with subject matter limited to practice and procedure