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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
No. 15-BG-492
IN RE SANDY F. THOMAS-BELLAMY, RESPONDENT
A Suspended Member of the Bar
of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
(Bar Registration No. 1011060)
On Report and Recommendation of Hearing Committee Number Four
Approving Petition for Negotiated Discipline
(BDN D179-13)
(Decided: November 12, 2015)
Before GLICKMAN and FISHER, Associate Judges, and NEBEKER, Senior
Judge.
2
PER CURIAM: This decision is issued as non-precedential. Please refer to D.C. Bar
R. XI, § 12.1 (d) governing the appropriate citation of this opinion.
In this disciplinary matter, Hearing Committee Number Four (“Committee”)
recommends approval of a petition for negotiated attorney discipline imposing a
one-year suspension with reinstatement conditioned upon a showing of fitness.
The recommended discipline stems from respondent’s false statements in
connection with her application for admission to the District of Columbia Bar.
Specifically, respondent represented to the Court of Appeals’ Committee on
Admissions that no pending disciplinary complaints existed against her, but
Maryland had initiated investigations into two pending disciplinary complaints.
On November 16, 2012, respondent became a member of the District of Columbia
Bar.
Respondent admittedly violated four rules of the District of Columbia Rules
of Professional Conduct in connection with her application for admission to the
District of Columbia Bar. The Committee concluded, after the limited hearing on
the petition, an in camera review of Bar Counsel’s investigative files and records,
and an ex parte discussion with Bar Counsel, that respondent violated the four
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Rules of Professional Conduct identified in the petition. The parties stipulated that
this court’s previous sanction in In re Thomas-Bellamy, 97 A.3d 591 (D.C. 2014)
(“Thomas-Bellamy I”), which imposed a six-month suspension, constituted an
aggravating factor. Respondent presented mitigating circumstances that included
the favourable resolution of her Maryland disciplinary cases, and the fact that she
did not take on any District of Columbia clients and fully cooperated with Bar
Counsel. As a result, Bar Counsel and respondent negotiated imposition of
discipline in the form of a one-year suspension with a fitness requirement, to run
consecutive to the sanction imposed in Thomas-Bellamy I.
We accept the Committee’s recommendation because it properly applied
D.C. Bar R. XI § 12.1 (c) to arrive at this conclusion, and we find no error in the
Committee’s determination. The Committee considered respondent’s prior
sanction as an aggravating circumstance. Furthermore, it properly considered the
mitigating circumstances that respondent identified. Based upon the record before
the court, the negotiated discipline of a one-year suspension from the practice of
law (consecutive to respondent’s prior suspension), with reinstatement conditioned
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upon demonstrating fitness to practice law, is not unduly lenient and is supported
by discipline imposed by this court for similar actions.1
In accordance with our procedures in uncontested disciplinary cases, we
agree this case is appropriate for negotiated discipline, and we accept the
Committee’s recommendation. Accordingly, it is
ORDERED that Sandy F. Thomas-Bellamy is hereby suspended from the
practice of law in the District of Columbia for a period of one year, with
reinstatement conditioned upon demonstrating fitness to practice law. This period
of suspension shall be consecutive to the six-month period of suspension imposed
in Thomas-Bellamy I. We direct respondent’s attention to the requirements of D.C.
Bar R. XI, § 14 (g) and its effect on her eligibility for reinstatement. See D.C. Bar
R. XI, § 16 (c). Respondent’s eighteen-month total suspension will not begin to
run until a compliant affidavit is filed.
So ordered.
1
See In re Powell, 898 A.2d 365 (D.C. 2006) (imposing a one-year suspension
with fitness for respondent’s failure to disclose a suspension on his bar
application).