Maryland Bar Counsel pushes to suspend Marilyn Mosby's license to practice law

BALTIMORE - Maryland Bar Counsel is looking to suspend former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's license to practice law.

The petition filed last Friday by the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland seeks to suspend her license immediately because of her conviction for perjury last month.

The 28-page document details that Mosby violates the Attorneys' Rules of Professional Conduct, therefore calling for her to lose her license.

"There is no doubt that at some point this proceeding was going to take place, it was just a question of when," Baltimore attorney Adam Ruther said.

In November, Mosby was convicted on two counts of perjury. 

Jurors found Mosby lied to take money out of her retirement account, saying she suffered COVID-related losses for her Mahogany Elite travel business.

In a separate pending federal case, Mosby also faces two counts of making false mortgage applications, relating to the purchases of two vacation homes in Florida.    

Jury selection for that trial will begin on January 18, 2024.

A judge ruled that Mosby won't be sentenced until the completion of her second federal trial.  

Ruther, an attorney with Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP. said if the motion is approved by the Supreme Court, Mosby will then have 15 days to fight it. 

"If a lawyer is found guilty of a serious crime, and that's defined in the statute and perjury is one of those crimes, then the court certainly has the power at this juncture to suspend her license," Ruther said.

Under the Maryland Attorneys Rule of Professional Conduct, a serious crime includes any offense that is punishable by three or more years of prison, and any crime that involves false swearing or misrepresentation.

Mosby's conviction on the perjury charges placed her within that category. 

Ruther says that although this petition is for a temporary suspension of her license, it's possible that her second trial could bring permanent change. 

"The question of whether she will be disbarred is something that we'll find out in court, proceeding with the Supreme Court, after she has had her day in court on the second charges and convicted and sentenced on both."

At this moment, the Supreme Court of Maryland has yet to make a decision.

Mosby was first admitted to the Bar back in 2006.

Mosby was elected as Baltimore City's State's Attorney in 2014 and was reelected in 2018.

She lost to Ivan Bates in the 2022 election.