In re Otis

Summary

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court affirmed the disbarment of Susan P. Otis following her federal conviction for conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud. The court held that disbarment was the usual and presumptive sanction for the serious felony involving fraud and that no special mitigating circumstances justified an indefinite suspension instead.

Holdings

1. Disbarment is the appropriate sanction for Otis's conviction because the felony involved intentional fraud and a conspiracy to commit fraud, and the misconduct was not an isolated act but extended over several years.
2. The court declined to apply a private-citizen exception and held that Otis's claimed mitigating circumstances did not warrant reducing the sanction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether disbarment or the lesser sanction of indefinite suspension was appropriate after Otis's felony conviction for conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud.
2. Whether the absence of client-related conduct, health and family issues, pro bono representation, reputation, and lack of prior discipline constituted special mitigating circumstances warranting deviation from presumptive disbarment.

Disposition

affirmed