Billy Ponds

DCCA Opinion (December 15, 2005)

Summary: The D.C. Court of Appeals suspended Ponds for 30 days, with reinstatement conditioned upon his filing with the Board on Professional Responsibility and Bar Counsel a certification that he has completed a continuing legal education course on legal ethics or criminal practice covering conflicts of interest. Ponds violated Rules 1.7(b) (conflict of interest) and 1.16(a)(1) (failure to withdraw when necessary to avoid violation of the rules) of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct, made applicable by D.C. Rule 8.5(b)(1) (choice of law), while representing a client in a criminal proceeding before the U.S. District Court of Maryland.

Board Report and Orders (January 22, 2004)

Summary: The board recommends that the court impose a 60-day suspension on Ponds, stay execution of the suspension in favor of unsupervised probation for six months, and require Ponds to file, within the six-month probationary period and as a condition of vacating the suspension, proof of completion of a continuing legal education course on legal ethics or criminal practice covering conflicts of interest. The board found that Ponds had violated Maryland Rules 1.7(b)(4) (conflict of interest) and 1.16(a)(1) (failure to withdraw when necessary to avoid violation of the rules), made applicable by D.C. Rule 8.5(b)(1) (choice of law), while representing a client in a criminal proceeding before the U.S. District Court of Maryland.

Board Report and Orders (July 31, 2003)

Summary: The board requests briefs from the parties on the issue of sanction based on its finding that in a criminal matter Ponds violated two Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC) by having a conflict of interest in violation of MRPC 1.7(b) and failing to withdraw in violation of MRPC 1.16(a)(1) during the representation of a criminal defendant.