Porter

We review the recommendation of the Review Department of the State Bar Court (review department) that petitioner, Joseph Edward Porter III, be suspended from the practice of law for a period of five years upon certain conditions of probation, including actual suspension for two and one-half years and until he demonstrates his competence pursuant to standard 1.4(c)(ii) of the Standards for Attorney Sanctions for Professional Misconduct (div. V of the Rules Proc. of State Bar and hereafter referred to as standards). After considering the record and the arguments of petitioner and the State Bar, we conclude that the recommended discipline should be largely adopted, but that the length of the actual suspension should be two years.

Facts

Petitioner was admitted to the practice of law in California on January 5, 1972. In 1984 petitioner was suspended from the practice of law after failing to pay his State Bar dues, and was reinstated upon payment of those dues in September 1986. In the present proceeding, the hearing panel of the State Bar Court (hearing panel) found misconduct in the following matters:

The Harper Matter

In early 1981, petitioner was retained to represent…