MCLENNAN COUNTY, Texas — A Texas attorney is keeping his law license despite a judge ordering him to resign it, after a plea deal reduced his felony charges to misdemeanors.
Adam Dean Hoffman's plea agreement lowered his charges to misdemeanors that do not qualify for compulsory discipline under Texas law, leaving the state with no immediate legal path to revoke his license.
A judge ordered Hoffman to resign his law license in court, but the Texas State Bar says that is not how the process works.
"We understand that the judge ordered Mr. Hoffman to resign his law license and required him to sign a piece of paper in court regarding this; however, attorneys cannot resign their law license in this manner," the Texas State Bar said. "Attorneys who wish to resign their law licenses must file paperwork with the Supreme Court of Texas. Only the Supreme Court of Texas can issue an order accepting the resignation of the law license."
The State Bar explained that under the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel pursues compulsory discipline when an attorney is convicted of an intentional crime — generally a felony involving moral turpitude, or a misdemeanor involving theft, embezzlement, or fraudulent or reckless misappropriation of money or property. Once convicted and sentenced, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel files a petition for compulsory discipline before the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, which then holds a hearing to determine whether the attorney should be disbarred.
"CDC cannot pursue compulsory discipline in the case of Adam Dean Hoffman because he entered into a plea bargain agreement that reduced the felony charges to misdemeanors that won't qualify for compulsory discipline," the State Bar said.
Officials provided Hoffman with the appropriate paperwork to resign his license, but he has not returned the forms.
"Although we provided the appropriate paperwork to Mr. Hoffman to sign and return to our CDC office (or file it directly with the Supreme Court of Texas), as of today, he has not done so," the State Bar said. "Our attempts to communicate with him and assist him in the process have been unsuccessful as he is no longer communicating with us."
Hoffman remains licensed to practice law in Texas and is still subject to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the state's attorney discipline system.
"While he remains licensed to practice law in Texas, he is still subject to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and the jurisdiction of the Texas attorney discipline system, which may or may not lead to discipline against him," the State Bar said. "The bottom line is there is no legal process available that would result in the immediate revocation of his law license."
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