Split court chooses suspension of attorney, not disbarment

Per Curiam.

This matter is before the Court on the report of the hearing officer appointed by this Court to hear evidence on the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission's "Verified Complaint for Disciplinary Action," and on the post-hearing briefing by the parties. We find that Respondent, David J. Colman, engaged in attorney misconduct by participating in preparation of a will for a non-relative that would give Respondent or his son a substantial gift, by representing a client when there was a conflict of interest due to Respondent's personal interests, by failing to hold property of a client separate from Respondent's property and failing to keep a client’s funds in a clearly identified trust account, by entering into an improper business transaction with a client, and by charging an unreasonable fee.

Conclusion (slip op. at 8): For Respondent's professional misconduct, the Court suspends Respondent from the practice of law in this state for a period of not less than three years, beginning July 1, 2008. Respondent shall not undertake any new legal matters between service of this order and the effective date of the suspension, and Respondent shall fulfill all the duties of a suspended attorney under Admission and Discipline Rule 23(26). At the conclusion of that period, Respondent may petition this Court for reinstatement to the practice of law in this state, provided Respondent pays the costs of this proceeding, fulfills the duties of a suspended attorney, and satisfies the requirements for reinstatement of Admission and Discipline Rule 23(4).

Sullivan, Boehm, and Rucker, JJ., concur.

Shepard, Chief Justice, dissenting as to sanction: ". . . it is hard to fashion an argument for the public that Respondent’s behavior has been such that we might at some future date want, again, to tell clients they can entrust their own dearest matters to him. I thus vote to disbar.

Dickson, Justice, dissenting as to sanction: "When the respondent was convicted of a federal felony in 1996, this Court unanimously voted not to disbar but only to suspend his privilege to practice law for a substantial time . . . I choose, however, not to make the same mistake a third time . . . "