Lawyer Disciplinary Board v. Wheaton (dissenting)
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No. 31275 Lawyer Disciplinary Board v. Keith L. Wheaton, A Member of the West Virginia State Bar FILED November 12, 2004 released at 3:00 p.m. Starcher, J., dissenting: R O R Y L . P E R R Y II , C L E R K SUPR EME COUR T OF APPE ALS OF W ES T V IRG INIA Mr. Wheaton is a young African American attorney who was urged by my friend, the distinguished former Justice of this Court, Franklin Cleckley, to move to the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia and establish a solo practice there to help meet the under-served needs of that area s large African American community. This was an important mission, and a challenging one. Mr. Wheaton, inexperienced and on his own in a new area, got in way over his head, and made some serious errors of judgment. The majority details Mr. Wheaton s errors in several cases; but it does not discuss the many legal matters that Mr. Wheaton did handle properly; nor does it take into serious consideration how his work did bring an important degree of racial diversity to the legal community in the Eastern Panhandle. Mr. Wheaton s attorney before this Court, Ms. Katherine Dooley, ably argued that this Court should weigh in the balance the importance of encouraging diversity in the practice of law. I thoroughly concur in this argument. I agree that Mr. Wheaton s conduct has been such that he should, at this time, be suspended from practicing law for some period of time. I part company from the majority on the degree of sanction that he should receive, and the burden that Mr. Wheaton should 17 have in seeking reinstatement. Generally speaking, a full annulment sanction places a different burden on the person seeking reinstatement than does a suspension sanction. See generally Lawyer Disciplinary Bd. v. Moore, 214 W.Va. 780, 591 S.E.2d 338 (2003). Mr. Wheaton is a young man who made some grievous errors. Because I fully support the effort that former Justice Cleckley began when he urged Mr. Wheaton to begin a solo practice in the Eastern Panhandle, I would like to see Mr. Wheaton return to the bar if and only if he demonstrates his fitness to do so. To make such a demonstration much more realistically feasible, while still fully protecting the public interest, I would impose a three-year suspension with strict reinstatement conditions, including full restitution. Accordingly, I dissent. I am authorized to state that Justice McGraw joins in this dissent. 2
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