Updated at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday: A Rockville administrative law attorney was suspended 60 days by the state Court of Appeals for failing to communicate with his client, ignoring a conflict of interest and giving a misleading statement to the state Office of Bar Counsel, according to a decision filed last week.
Raj Sanjeet Singh, of the Rockville-based firm Tax & Immigration, will be suspended for two months following the 4-3 decision the seven-judge panel issued July 17.
Singh could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. A representative from his firm said he would not be available until Aug. 1.
Defense attorney Robert Bonsib, representing Singh, said the punishment was “unfortunate,” but amounts to “basically a slap on the wrist.” Bonsib added that the court noted Singh is performing a valuable service by assisting the immigrant community, likely leading to the “very brief” suspension.
A petition for disciplinary action against Singh was filed by the Attorney Grievance Commission through the Office of Bar Counsel, which was heard by a county Circuit Court judge. The case then moved to the Court of Appeals.
Judge Robert N. McDonald delivered the majority opinion, using the basketball concept of “no harm, no foul” as an opposing analogy for the duty of the court.
“We must call a foul when one is committed, although the severity of the harm – or a lack of harm – may affect the sanction,” McDonald wrote.
Singh successfully represented a Brazilian immigrant and his spouse in 2014 in obtaining resident status in the U.S., according to the court filing. When the marriage began to struggle, Singh failed to respond promptly to the husband’s inquiries regarding his permanent resident status.
When the man reached Singh, he asked the attorney to help him file criminal charges against the woman. Singh complied, creating a conflict of interest issue given that he had previously represented both parties.
Singh and the man also had a disagreement about attorney fees, which was resolved only after the client filed a complaint with the Office of Bar Counsel, according to the court filing.
Singh gave a refund to the man and had him submit a release to the Office of Bar Counsel without giving him the opportunity to seek outside counsel. He then gave a misleading statement to the commission regarding his compliance with depositing funds into an attorney trust account, the filing said.
The investigation did not reveal any misappropriation of funds and the man ultimately obtained permanent resident status, but four judges determined Singh still should be punished.
“While no one may have suffered harm from Mr. Singh’s violations of the ethical rules, those rules are designed to ensure that attorneys are conscientious in their representation of clients and do not take advantage of them,” McDonald wrote.
The three dissenting judges argued for a harsher penalty in an opinion Judge Shirley M. Watts wrote. The trio requested an indefinite suspension for Singh, as recommended by the Office of Bar Counsel, or an indefinite suspension with the right to apply for reinstatement after 60 days.
Watts wrote that Singh’s numerous infractions, namely the misleading comments to the Office of Bar Counsel, were grounds for a more-serious punishment, though only two other judges joined her in the minority opinion.
Singh is the principal and founding member of Tax & Immigration, which he started in 2000. The firm primarily works immigration cases in the Washington region.
Singh has been a member of the Maryland Bar since 1998, according to the filing.
Charlie Wright can be reached at charlie.wright@moco360.media
