Notice: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the Atlantic and
Maryland Reporters. Users are requested to notify the Clerk of the Court of any formal
errors so that corrections may be made before the bound volum es go to press.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
No. 02-BG-349
IN RE G REG S. F RIEDMAN, R ESPONDENT.
A Member of the Bar of the
District of C olumbia Court of A ppeals
On Report and Recommendation of the
Board o n Professio nal Respo nsibility
(Submitted February 12, 2004
Decided March 4, 2004)
Before TERRY and R UIZ, Associate Judges, and F ERREN, Senior Judge.
P ER C URIAM: This disciplinary matter comes before the court on the report and
recommendation of the Board on Professional Responsibility (“Board”) that reciprocal
discipline be imposed on respondent, Greg S. Friedman, as a result of discipline imposed by
the Court of Appeals of Maryland suspending respondent for six months.
The Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland initiated an investigation into an
allegation that respon dent mis represented certain facts to the M aryland Circuit Cou rt
concerning the reason for his absence from a pretrial conference in a Circuit Court case.
During the course of the investigation, respondent voluntarily acknowledged that he made
a false statement to the court and opp osing cou nsel, which he then rep eated to B ar Coun sel.
Specifically, respondent falsely represented that a subpoena had been improvidently prepared
and issued by a law student in respondent’s office, when in truth, it had been prepared and
2
issued by respon dent’s client. 1 On January 24, 2002, the Court of Appeals of Maryland
accepted a joint petition from respondent and Maryland Bar Counsel acknowledging the
misrepresentation and requesting a six-month suspension by consent. Upon being notified
by responde nt of the M aryland su spension, th is court susp ended res ponden t from the practice
of law in the District of Columbia pending final resolution of this proceeding pursuant to
D.C. Bar R. XI, § 11 (d) on April 16, 2002.
On November 13, 2003, we granted
respondent’s motion vacating the interim suspension.
Upon review of respondent’s Maryland disciplinary record, Bar Counsel
recommended that identical reciprocal discipline in the form of a six-month suspension be
imposed on respondent in the District of Columbia. Respondent did not reply to Bar
Counsel’s proposal or otherwise object to the imposition of identical reciprocal discipline
before the Bo ard.
On June 25, 2003, the Board filed its report and rec omm endation w ith the court,
which also recommended imposition of a suspension of six months as identical reciprocal
discipline, to co mme nce wh en respon dent files his D .C. Bar R . XI, § 14 (g ) affidavit.
1
Respondent was unaware that his client had procured a blank, signed subpoena,
completed it, and caused it to be sent and served upon a witness. Respondent discovered
what his client had done only after he received a m otion for a protective order filed by
opposing counsel. Upon learning about the subpoena, responde nt withdrew it within thirty
minutes. In doing so, however, respondent invented the fictitious law student and repeated
this false hood to the cou rt and M aryland Bar C ounse l in orde r to shield his clien t.
3
Respondent does not contest the nature of the ethical violation or argue that he should
not serve a six-m onth recipro cal suspen sion here fo r his Mary land misc onduct. We therefore
impose the identical reciprocal discipline recommended by the Board in its report and
recom mend ation. See In re Zilberberg, 612 A .2d 832 , 834 (D .C. 199 2).
ORDERED that Greg S. Friedman is suspended from the practice of law in the
District of C olumbia for a period of six months . This suspension is ordered nunc pro tunc
to May 5, 200 3, the date respondent filed the a ffidavit required by D.C . Bar R. XI, § 14 (g). 2
Because respondent was suspended on an interim basis until November 13, 2003, the sixmonth suspension has been satisfied.
So ordered.
2
Respondent did not file his affidavit with the Board as required by § 14 (g). The
record shows that respondent filed the affidavit with this court on May 5, 2003, and
subseque ntly filed a copy with the B oard on June 30 , 2003. Given B ar Counsel’s
recommendation that the suspension be imposed nunc pro tunc, we will treat respondent’s
original affidavit as having been filed with the Board o n the date it w as filed with th is court.
See In re Breiner, 742 A.2d 886 , 887 n. 2 (D.C. 199 9).
