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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA COURT OF APPEALS
3/3/16
No. 16-BG-35
IN RE KENNETH H. ROSENAU, RESPONDENT.
A Member of the Bar
of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals
(Bar Registration No. 342733)
On Report and Recommendation of Hearing Committee Number Five
Approving Petition for Negotiated Discipline
(BDN-D335-13)
(Decided: March 3, 2016)
Before FISHER and EASTERLY, Associate Judges, and FARRELL, Senior
Judge.
PER CURIAM: This decision is issued as non-precedential.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 Five (“Committee”)
recommends approval of a petition for negotiated attorney discipline. The
violations stem from respondent Kenneth H. Rosenau’s failure to disclose during
mediation that his client had died.
2
Based upon respondent’s recognition that he engaged in misrepresentation
and that this misrepresentation seriously interfered with the administration of
justice, he admittedly violated Rule 8.4 (c) and 8.4 (d) of the District of Columbia
Rules of Professional Conduct. The Committee considered the following
circumstances in mitigation: (1) respondent’s remorse for his actions, (2) his
statement that his actions were not for personal gain, and (3) the absence of any
prior disciplinary action during thirty-five years of practicing law. As a result,
Disciplinary Counsel and respondent negotiated the imposition of discipline in the
form of a thirty-day suspension. The Committee reviewed this agreement and
concluded, after the limited hearing on the petition, an ex parte review of
Disciplinary Counsel’s files and records, and ex parte communications with
Disciplinary Counsel, that the petition for negotiated discipline should be
approved.
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. Based upon the record before the court, the negotiated
3
discipline of a thirty-day suspension from the practice of 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 Kenneth H. Rosenau is hereby suspended from the practice
of law in the District of Columbia for the period of thirty days. We also direct
respondent’s attention to the requirements of D.C. Bar R. XI, § 14 (g) and its effect
on his eligibility for reinstatement. See D.C. Bar R. XI, § 16 (c).
So ordered.
1
See In re Owens, 806 A.2d 1230, 1230-31 (D.C. 2002) (imposing a thirty-
day suspension for misrepresentations, one under oath, to an Administrative Law
Judge based on a finding that respondent’s “false statements were motivated by her
desire to avoid embarrassment to herself and protect her client from any adverse
consequences of her misconduct.”); In re Schneider, 553 A.2d 206, 212
(D.C. 1989) (imposing a thirty-day suspension citing “the absence of motive of
personal gain, [and] the otherwise unblemished record over a considerable period
of professional life subsequent to the event”).