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  • BBO Disciplinary Decision

In the Matter of Joseph B. Shanahan. Jr.

17 Mass. Att'y Disc. R. 502 (2001)

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No. BD-2001-055

S.J.C. Judgment of Disbarment entered by Justice Sosman on January 24, 2002 1

SUMMARY2

On October 26, 2001, the respondent was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts of one count of bankruptcy fraud in violation of U.S.C. § 152(a). He was sentenced to twelve months and one day imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release and fined $3,000. The conduct giving rise to the conviction concerned the respondent’s deliberate failure to disclose in his personal bankruptcy petition, statements of financial affairs, and in sworn testimony at a creditors’ meeting that his children and a corporation he had formed and controlled owed him $10,000 for an option to purchase certain valuable real estate in the town of Chelmsford.

On December 6, 2001, the respondent filed an affidavit of resignation admitting that he had been convicted of bankruptcy fraud and that his conduct violated Canon One, Disciplinary Rules 1-102(A)(4)-(6). On that same day, bar counsel filed a letter with the board asking for a recommendation that the affidavit be accepted and an order of disbarment enter effective on the date of entry. Bar counsel cited the respondent’s prior disciplinary sanctions, including PR-89-9, 6 Mass. Att’y Disc. R. 355 (1989), and Adm. No. 96-35, 12 Mass. Att’y Disc. R. 656 (1996). In addition, the respondent failed to comply with an order of temporary suspension entered on October 11, 2001.

On December 17, 2001, the Board of Bar Overseers voted to recommend to the court that the affidavit of resignation be accepted and an order of disbarment enter forthwith. On January 24, 2002, the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County (Sosman, J.) entered a judgment of disbarment.

1 The complete Order of the Court is available by contacting the Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County.

2 Compiled by the Board of Bar Overseers based on the record before the Court.