S. Ct. Civ. No. 2014-0024

The petition of a disbarred attorney requesting issuance of a writ of mandamus compelling the Office of Disciplinary Counsel and the Virgin Islands Bar Association to provide him with various documents is denied. Petitioner has failed to establish the requisites for mandamus relief: that he has no other adequate means to attain the desired relief, that his right to the writ is clear and indisputable, and that issuance of the writ is appropriate under the circumstances. Much of the material requested involves transcripts and other documents that were filed with either this Court or the Superior Court in numerous disciplinary proceedings and other matters in which the petitioner was the respondent. These are public records and the availability of obtaining the materials directly from the pertinent courts precludes mandamus relief. As to the materials that were not filed with a court, petitioner also failed to establish that his right to production is clear and indisputable. He identified no legal authority to support his broad "discovery" requests, purported "subpoenas duces tecum," information requests and demand letters. The Virgin Islands Bar Association is not a government agency and neither the local nor federal Freedom of Information Acts applies to it. The petitioner also failed to establish that a writ of mandamus is appropriate under the circumstances, since the vast majority of these materials are wholly irrelevant to the issues adjudicated in the prior opinions culminating in his disbarment, and the requested materials could have been obtained by simply participating in those proceedings instead of defaulting as he did. Condoning petitioner's practice would not protect the public and the administration of justice from lawyers, like this petitioner, who have not discharged, will not discharge, or are unlikely to properly discharge their professional duties to the clients, the public, the legal system, and the legal profession. The petition for writ of a mandamus is denied.