MISSISSIPPI BAR v. PATRICK (2023)

ORDER OF DISBARMENT

¶1. This matter is before the Court on a formal complaint filed by the Mississippi Bar against Megan Mariah Patrick, a member of the Mississippi Bar since 2016.

¶2. On March 2, 2022, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi, Patrick, an employee of the United States Department of Agriculture, an executive branch agency of the United States, pled guilty to and was convicted of three counts of the unauthorized representation of claims against the government in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 205(a)(2) and 216(a)(2) and three counts of making false statements to a federal agency in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2). Patrick was sentenced to serve two years of probation on each count, to run concurrently.

¶3. On October 21, 2022, the Mississippi Bar filed a formal complaint against Patrick and asserted that, as a result of Patrick's felony convictions, she should be disbarred. Patrick was personally served with a copy of the formal complaint on November 13, 2022, and she timely filed an answer. In her answer, Patrick admitted that the offenses to which she pled guilty constituted felonies, but she requested that this Court issue an order of suspension for an indefinite amount of time instead of an order of disbarment.

¶4. Rule 6(a) of the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar provides:

Whenever any attorney subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the Court shall be convicted in any court of any state or in any federal court, or enter a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere therein, or tender a guilty plea pursuant to the provisions of Miss. Code Ann. § 99-15-26 (Supp. 1993), or any similar provision in state or federal law therein of any felony (other than manslaughter) or of any misdemeanor involving fraud, dishonesty, misrepresentation, deceit, or willful failure to account for money or property of a client, a certified copy of the judgment of conviction or order accepting or acknowledging the offer or tender of a guilty plea pursuant to the provisions of Miss. Code Ann. § 99-15-26 (Supp. 1993), or any similar provision in state or federal law shall be presented to the Court by Complaint Counsel and shall be conclusive evidence thereof. The Court shall then forthwith strike the name of the attorney and order his immediate suspension from the practice of law.

Miss. R. Discipline 6(a). “When time for appeal from judgment or conviction provided above expires or all appeals have been concluded without reversal, Complaint Counsel shall certify that result to the Court, and the Court shall forthwith enter an order of disbarment.” Miss. R. Discipline 6(d).

¶5. The unauthorized representation of claims against the government and making false statements to a federal agency are both felony crimes. See 18 U.S.C. §§§ 205(a)(2),¹ 216(a)(2),² 1001(a)(2).³ Under Rule 6 of the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar, a conviction of these felony crimes is cause for summary disbarment. Miss. R. Discipline 6(a), (d).

¶6. In her answer, Patrick admits the offenses constitute a felony, but she asserts that this Court is not obligated to enter an order of disbarment based on the language of Rules 6(a) and (d) because the United States Supreme Court has concluded that “shall” does not constitute a word of obligation. In support, Patrick relies on Gutierrez de Martinez v. Lamagno, 515 U.S. 417, 115 S. Ct. 2227, 132 L. Ed. 2d 375 (1995). But Patrick's reliance on Lamagno is misplaced.

¶7. In Lamagno, the Court considered “the Federal Employees Liability Reform and Tort Compensation Act of 1988 (commonly known as the Westfall Act)[.]” Id. at 419-20, 115 S. Ct. 2227. The Court concluded:

Because the statute is reasonably susceptible to divergent interpretation, we adopt the reading that accords with traditional understandings and basic principles: that executive determinations generally are subject to judicial review and that mechanical judgments are not the kind federal courts are set up to render. Under our reading, the Attorney General's certification that a federal employee was acting within the scope of his employment—a certification the executive official, in cases of the kind at issue, has a compelling interest to grant—does not conclusively establish as correct the substitution of the United States as defendant in place of the employee.

Id. at 434.

¶8. Here, unlike the Westfall Act in Lamagno, Rules 6(a) and (d) of the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi State Bar are not “reasonably susceptible to divergent interpretation[.]” Id. Instead, Rule 6(a) makes clear that “[w]henever any attorney ․ shall be convicted in any court of any state or in any federal court, or enter a plea of guilty or a plea of nolo contendere therein ․ of any felony ․ [t]he Court shall ․ order his immediate suspension from the practice of law.” Miss. R. Discipline 6(a). And Rule 6(d) clearly mandates that when the time for an appeal has expired, “Complaint Counsel shall certify that result to the Court, and the Court shall forthwith enter an order of disbarment.” Miss. R. Discipline 6(d).

¶9. Invoking Rule 6, the Mississippi Bar requests Patrick's disbarment. The Mississippi Bar has attached a certified copy of the judgment of conviction against Patrick, which this Court treats as “conclusive evidence” that Patrick committed the disbarrable offenses of the unauthorized representation of claims against the government and making false statements to a federal agency. Miss. R. Discipline 6(a), (d).

¶10. IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED as follows:

1. Megan Mariah Patrick is hereby disbarred from the practice of law in the State of Mississippi, and her name shall be immediately removed from the rolls of the Mississippi Bar;

2. The Clerk of the Supreme Court of Mississippi (the Clerk) shall immediately forward to the attorneys of record for each party herein a copy of this Order of Disbarment and shall send Patrick's copy by certified mail, return receipt requested;

3. The Clerk shall immediately forward an attested copy of this Order of Disbarment to the Clerks of the United States District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Mississippi, to the Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and to the Clerk of the Supreme Court of the United States;

4. The Clerk shall immediately forward an attested copy of this Order of Disbarment to the judges of the circuit, chancery, and county courts of the districts where Patrick resided and practiced law, with instructions to include a copy of this judgment upon the minutes of their respective courts;

5. The Clerk shall forward an attested copy of this Order of Disbarment to the Executive Director of the Mississippi Bar;

6. Patrick is assessed all costs and expenses of this disciplinary proceeding in the amount of $295 to be paid within thirty days of this Court's decision.4 See Miss. R. Discipline 25;

7. Patrick is hereby enjoined from practicing law in Mississippi; from holding herself out as an attorney at law; from performing any legal service for others; from accepting any fee directly or indirectly for legal services to be performed for others; from appearing as counsel or in any representative capacity in any proceeding in any court of the State of Mississippi, or before any administrative body or agency thereof; from holding herself out to others as or using her name in any manner in conjunction with the phrases “attorney at law,” “attorney,” “counselor at law,” “counselor,” or “lawyer,” for the period of her disbarment until such time as she is reinstated to the practice of law in this State by the Supreme Court of Mississippi;

8. Within ten days of receipt of this Order of Disbarment, Patrick shall notify in writing each of her Mississippi clients of her disbarment and of her consequent inability to act as an attorney and shall advise each such client to promptly substitute another attorney or attorneys in her place or to seek legal advice elsewhere;

9. Patrick shall return all files, papers, monies, and other properties belonging to her Mississippi clients in her possession, if any such clients request same after receiving notification from her. Within thirty days of receipt of this Order of Disbarment, Patrick shall file with this Court an Affidavit stating that all current Mississippi clients have been notified of her disbarment and that all files, papers, monies, and other property belonging to such clients have been returned as ordered herein and showing, in the cases in which it was not possible to notify such clients or return their property, that due diligence was used to do so;

10. Within ten days of receipt of this Order of Disbarment, Patrick shall notify every attorney and adverse party in any legal proceeding in which she is involved and all affected courts and agencies of her disbarment and consequent inability to act as an attorney. Within thirty days of receipt of this Order of Disbarment, Patrick shall file with this Court an Affidavit stating that all attorneys or adverse parties in any such proceeding in which she is involved and all affected courts and agencies have been notified of her disbarment and consequent inability to act as an attorney.

SO ORDERED, this the 28th day of March, 2023.

FOOTNOTES

1.   Under 18 U.S.C. § 205,(a) Whoever, being an officer or employee of the United States in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government or in any agency of the United States, other than in the proper discharge of his official duties—(2) acts as agent or attorney for anyone before any department, agency, court, court-martial, officer, or civil, military, or naval commission in connection with any covered matter in which the United States is a party or has a direct and substantial interest;shall be subject to the penalties set forth in section 216 of this title.

2.   Under 18 U.S.C. § 216,(a) The punishment for an offense under section ․ 205 ․ of this title is the following:(2) Whoever willfully engages in the conduct constituting the offense shall be imprisoned for not more than five years or fined in the amount set forth in this title, or both.

3.   Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001,(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully—(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation ․shall be fined under this title, imprisoned not more than 5 years ․

4.   This assessment of costs and expenses resolves the Mississippi Bar's motion for reimbursement of costs and expenses.

T. KENNETH GRIFFIS, JR., JUSTICE