Suspension Recommended for Ex-H&K Partner, an ‘Addict of Privilege’
An ethics board has recommended a three-year suspension for a former real estate partner at Holland & Knight who forged signatures on an agreement for an easement and lied to bar counsel about his cocaine use.
The lawyer, Theodore Silva Jr., had testified that he had trouble telling the truth and he was “an addict of privilege … not of money but of something that allows me to get out of trouble.”
A hearing committee had recommended disbarment for Silva, the Legal Profession Blog reports. The District of Columbia Board of Professional Responsibility instead recommended the three-year suspension, with a fitness requirement before reinstatement, saying the misconduct was serious but it was bound by appellate precedent.
Silva had told a psychiatrist that he was using cocaine daily when he became a partner at Holland & Knight. According to the findings of fact, he lied to the law firm and a client about the status of the easement agreement, then forged signatures on the agreement and presented it to the client. Holland & Knight fired Silva in 2006 after the incident and reported him to the bar counsel.
Silva lied to bar counsel about his cocaine use, saying he had successfully completed a treatment program and that he had quit using the drug in early 2006, the opinion says. Instead, he continued to use the drug until he apparently exhausted his severance pay and 2005 bonus. He also falsely claimed that his nephew had died so he could postpone a meeting with bar counsel.
The board opinion (PDF) said cases authorizing disbarment involve prolonged misconduct involving dishonesty, misappropriation of client funds or actions that abused the attorney-client relationship. Silva’s case, by contrast, involves a single matter.
The Legal Profession Blog titled its post about the case “What Does Someone Have to Do to Get Disbarred Around Here?”
“If the board is correct, it’s a sad commentary of the state of legal ethics in the District,” the blog says. “False document, false notarizations, multiple lies to client, severe harm to firm, lies to the disciplinary system, lies to treatment facility. Lies, lies, lies.”
Previous coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Disbarment Sought for Former Holland & Knight Partner”
