## Facts

- John M. Rosellini, a Washington attorney, handled the probate of the estate of Voyena Brandt.
- He received $10,000 belonging to the estate’s two children and deposited it into his client trust account.
- The $10,000 was not paid to the children for more than 16 months and was disbursed only after a bar complaint was filed.
- While the Brandt funds should have remained intact, Rosellini wrote multiple trust-account checks for personal and office purposes (including rent, mortgage payments, and other personal expenses).
- The trust account balance fell below $10,000 during this period, showing that client funds were used for Rosellini’s benefit.
- Rosellini signed an affidavit swearing compliance with trust-account rules despite the violations.
- He admitted that funds used to cover the overdue Brandt payment came from trust funds belonging to another client.
- The WSBA charged 21 disciplinary violations; a hearing officer found 14 violations and recommended disbarment.
- The Disciplinary Board adopted the findings and recommended disbarment by a 3–2 vote; Rosellini did not dispute the misconduct findings and contested only the sanction.

## Issues

1. What sanction is appropriate for an attorney’s admitted conversion and misuse of client trust funds, extended delay in disbursement, and false attestation—disbarment or suspension?
2. How should precedent treating trust-fund conversion as presumptively disbarment be applied, and what mitigation is sufficient to justify a lesser sanction?

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Washington adopted the Disciplinary Board’s recommendation and ordered Rosellini disbarred.
- The court treated the misconduct as intentional conversion and misuse of client funds, not a bookkeeping mistake.
- The prolonged nonpayment, use of multiple clients’ funds to cover shortages, and false affidavit supported disbarment.
- Mitigation offered by Rosellini (including lack of prior discipline and favorable character considerations) did not justify a sanction less than disbarment.
- A dissent agreed misconduct occurred but would have imposed a lesser sanction.

## Legal Principles

- The primary purpose of lawyer discipline is to protect the public and preserve confidence in the legal system, not to punish the lawyer.
- Conversion or misuse of client trust funds is among the most serious forms of professional misconduct and ordinarily warrants disbarment absent extraordinary mitigation.
- Prolonged withholding of funds, using one client’s funds to cover another’s, and false statements to disciplinary authorities aggravate trust-account violations and support disbarment.

## Conclusion

The Washington Supreme Court disbarred Rosellini because he converted and misused client trust funds over an extended period, delayed required disbursement, and falsely attested to compliance, concluding that only disbarment sufficiently protected the public and maintained confidence in the profession.


In re Rosellini, 97 Wn.2d 373, 646 P.2d 122 (Wash. 1982)