TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Feb 14, 2020

The Supreme Court held today that the Board of Professional Responsibility failed to prove that attorney James S. MacDonald violated any Rules of Professional Conduct, resulting in the dismissal of the disciplinary allegations against him. The original petition for discipline was filed against MacDonald after he added the signature of the opposing party to a copy of a draft letter that he believed, in the original transmission, was signed and sent by the opposing party. The hearing panel of the BPR determined the BPR had failed to establish a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, but on appeal by the BPR, a trial court reversed that holding. MacDonald then appealed to the Supreme Court which unanimously decided he had added the signature in good faith that there was a signed original, thus reinstating the hearing panel’s dismissal of the petition for discipline against MacDonald. Read the unanimous opinion.