State Bar Grievance Administrator v. Gillette

The major issue in this appeal from an order of the State Bar Grievance Board is whether the board was justified in increasing to one year a suspension from the practice of law over the previous 130-day suspension ordered by the hearing panel. Such increased penalty, respondent states, "was arbitrary, capricious, and unjudicious — without proper reason.”

A lengthy recital of the hearings conducted would serve little purpose. Indeed, more than 200 pages of testimony and many hours on the parts of all parties resulted in a thorough examination of the facts lying behind the complaint. To…