Lake County Bar Ass'n v. Johnson

Respondent does not dispute the board’s factual findings. He claims that under Rule XVIII, before an attorney at law may be disciplined for misconduct of violation of professional ethics, there must be evidence to support “willfulness” on the respondent’s part to violate his oath as an attorney.

‘ ‘ Willfulness ’ ’ is an intentional determination to perform or fail to perform'a duty. “Willfulness” is a mental process which can only be determined by a person’s conduct in a given set of circumstances. A reading of the transcript of testimony, and the board’s findings of fact indicate that…