Conditional admissions and discipline by consent

(a) Conditional admission and proposed sanction. A lawyer against whom a petition for discipline has been filed may offer to the Board a conditional admission to the petition or to a particular count or counts thereof in exchange for a specific disciplinary sanction, provided that the ODC agrees in writing to the conditional admission and proposed disciplinary sanction. (b) Affidavit of consent. A conditional admission offered to the Board shall be accompanied by the respondent’s proposed affidavit setting forth the following: (1) A description of the specific factual allegations and the particular count or counts of the petition for discipline which are being conditionally admitted, and (2) A statement that the respondent desires to consent to the imposition of the proposed sanction, that such consent is freely and voluntarily given and is not the subject of coercion or duress, and that the respondent is fully aware of the implications of submitting such consent. (c) Consideration by the Board. Upon the offer to the Board of a conditional admission as described herein, the Board shall hold a hearing on the matter to determine the respondent’s reasons for the proffered conditional admission and the agreement by the ODC. If the Board is satisfied that the conditional admission and the proposed sanction are appropriate, the Board shall issue a report with recommendations to the Court as described in Rule 9(d). If the Board is not satisfied with either the conditional admission or the proposed sanction, the Board shall inform the ODC and the respondent of its determination and reasons. (d) Rights of respondent. If the Board rejects a proposed conditional admission, or if after the Board approves a proposed conditional admission, it is rejected by the Court upon review under Rule 9(e), the admissions made in the prior proceedings shall not be used against the respondent in the pending or any subsequently filed proceedings. (e) Disbarment by consent. Where the respondent has admitted engaging in misconduct that is serious enough to warrant disbarment as a final disposition, the respondent and the ODC may submit at any stage of the disciplinary proceedings described in these Rules a written stipulation of disbarment by consent directly to the Court requesting that the Court enter an order of disbarment as soon as possible. Any such stipulation shall contain a detailed description of the misconduct in which the respondent admittedly engaged, an analysis of legal precedent for the imposition of such a sanction, a signed affidavit of consent from the respondent in the form described in subsection (b) of this Rule, and any other supplementary materials which may be appropriate for the Court to consider. The Court may thereupon enter an order of disbarment as it deems appropriate, or may remand the matter in its discretion to the ODC or the Board for further proceedings under these Rules.