Michael Beattie

DCCA Opinion (September 11, 2008)

Summary: In a reciprocal matter from Virginia, the D.C. Court of Appeals imposed identical reciprocal discipline and suspended Beattie for six months, followed by three years of unsupervised probation, subject to the conditions imposed by the Virginia court in Virginia State Bar v. Beattie, Case No. CL2006-10927. Based upon those conditions, in the event Beattie violates probation during this three-year period, the order shall be revoked and Beattie shall be suspended for three years, unless the Virginia sanction is for a shorter period of time. Under that circumstance, Beattie may receive sanction identical to the Virginia sanction. Beattie’s Virginia discipline stemmed from two complaints relating to his representation of one client who had retained him in July 2003 in connection with her sex discrimination case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Beattie failed to inform this client that he had been indefinitely suspended from the federal court in August 2003 in an unrelated matter and failed to communicate with the client. Beattie hired a part-time attorney to prepare and sign pleadings filed with the federal court, but deadlines were missed, pleadings were filed out of time, and no attorney showed up for several pretrial conferences. The client’s case was ultimately dismissed on summary judgment. In addition, Beattie approached another Virginia lawyer, stating that his firm was “short-staffed” and asking the lawyer to “help him out at the deposition” because Beattie was “not licensed” in the federal court. The Circuit Court of Fairfax County suspended Beattie based upon an agreed disposition proposed jointly by the Virginia State Bar and Beattie. Beattie was found to have violated rules relating to competence, diligence, communication with client, fairness to opposing party and counsel, truthfulness in statements to others, improper supervision of a subordinate lawyer, and dishonesty.

Board Report and Orders (March 3, 2008)

Summary: In a reciprocal matter from Virginia, the Board on Professional Responsibility recommends that the D.C. Court of Appeals impose identical reciprocal discipline and suspend Beattie for six months, followed by a three-year period of unsupervised probation. Beattie’s Virginia discipline stemmed from two complaints relating to his representation of one client who had retained him in July 2003 in connection with her sex discrimination case in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Beattie failed to inform this client that he had been indefinitely suspended from the federal court in August 2003 in an unrelated matter and failed to communicate with the client. Beattie hired a part-time attorney to prepare and sign pleadings filed with the federal court, but deadlines were missed, pleadings were filed out of time, and no attorney showed up for several pretrial conferences. The client’s case ultimately was dismissed on summary judgment. In addition, Beattie had approached another Virginia lawyer, stating that his firm was “short-staffed” and asked the lawyer to “help him out at the deposition” because Beattie was “not licensed” in the federal court. The Circuit Court of Fairfax County suspended Beattie based on an agreed upon disposition proposed jointly by the Virginia State Bar and Beattie. Beattie was found to have violated rules relating to competence, diligence, communication with his client, fairness to opposing party and counsel, truthfulness in statements to others, improper supervision of a subordinate lawyer, and dishonesty.