## Facts

- Leigh D. Bosse, admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1975, was self-employed as both an attorney and a real-estate agent.
- In February 2003, Bosse sent letters to landowners near a lake stating he could almost guarantee a quick sale of their lots for at least $10,000 to one of three builders he worked with.
- Landowner Raymond Grimard responded and expressed interest in selling his parcel for $10,000.
- Acting solely as a real-estate agent, Bosse offered to list Grimard’s property and to sell it to one of Bosse’s builder clients for a set price; Bosse sent Grimard an exclusive listing agreement and a purchase-and-sale agreement to review.
- Under the rules of the Northern New England Real Estate Network (NNEREN), Bosse could not place a listing on the multiple-listing service without a signed listing agreement.
- At the builder client’s request, and believing Grimard would sign, Bosse placed the listing on NNEREN before receiving any signed agreement from Grimard.
- NNEREN’s administrator contacted Bosse for verification that he had authorization to list the property; Bosse could not reach Grimard.
- Rather than disclose that he had listed too soon, Bosse forged Grimard’s signature on both the exclusive listing agreement and the purchase-and-sale agreement, then sent the forged documents to NNEREN and falsely stated the purchase-and-sale agreement was “in effect.”
- Grimard had in fact decided not to list with Bosse and had listed the property with another realtor; Bosse’s misconduct was discovered.
- Bosse later lost his real-estate license as a result of the incident.
- The Attorney Discipline Office (ADO) charged Bosse with professional misconduct; the parties stipulated to violations of New Hampshire Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4(a) and 8.4(c) (and the ADO did not pursue an 8.4(b) charge).
- Bosse had no prior professional-misconduct complaints, cooperated with the investigation, and expressed remorse.

## Issues

1. What sanction is appropriate for a lawyer who, while acting as a real-estate agent, forges a property owner’s signature and misrepresents the status of agreements in violation of Rules 8.4(a) and 8.4(c), where the Professional Conduct Committee imposed a six-month suspension and the ADO seeks disbarment?

## Decision

- The New Hampshire Supreme Court accepted that Bosse violated Rules 8.4(a) and 8.4(c) by forging Grimard’s signature and making false statements to NNEREN.
- The court held that the Professional Conduct Committee’s six-month suspension did not adequately reflect the seriousness of intentional forgery and misrepresentation.
- The court declined to disbar Bosse.
- The court modified the sanction and suspended Bosse from the practice of law in New Hampshire for two years.

## Legal Principles

- A lawyer may be disciplined for dishonest conduct committed outside an attorney-client relationship, including conduct undertaken in a separate business role, when it reflects on the lawyer’s fitness and violates the Rules of Professional Conduct.
- Rule 8.4(c) prohibits conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation; forging another person’s signature and submitting forged documents as genuine falls within the rule.
- In determining sanctions, the court exercises independent judgment and looks to the ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Sanctions as a framework, including the lawyer’s mental state, the nature of the conduct, actual or potential injury, and aggravating and mitigating factors.
- Intentional dishonesty—such as forging signatures and falsely stating that a purchase-and-sale agreement is in effect—is treated as serious misconduct that typically warrants a substantial suspension, even if the lawyer cooperates and the episode is isolated.
- Mitigation may include lack of prior discipline, cooperation, remorse, and significant collateral consequences (such as loss of a real-estate license), but mitigation does not require a minimal suspension when the misconduct is intentional.
- Aggravation may include a dishonest motive, multiple acts of misconduct (forging more than one document and misrepresenting their status), and substantial experience in practice.

## Conclusion

Because Bosse intentionally forged a property owner’s signature on real-estate documents and misrepresented their status to an MLS to justify a premature listing, the New Hampshire Supreme Court concluded that a six-month suspension was too light but disbarment was too severe; balancing the seriousness of the dishonesty against mitigating factors such as a clean disciplinary record, cooperation, remorse, and collateral consequences, the court imposed a two-year suspension.


In re Bosse's Case, 920 A.2d 1203 (2007)