Rittenhouse v. Delta Home Improvement, Inc. (In re Desilets)

Allan Rittenhouse (defendant) was admitted to practice law in Texas in 1992. Rittenhouse subsequently moved to Wisconsin but was denied admission to the Wisconsin and Michigan bars. In 1994, Rittenhouse was admitted to the bar of the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Rittenhouse established a federal bankruptcy practice with law offices in Wisconsin and Michigan. In 1995, the Michigan Bar informed Rittenhouse that he was engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. Rittenhouse responded that his practice was not unauthorized, and the Michigan Bar took no further action until 1999, when it sued Rittenhouse to enjoin him from further unauthorized practice. That action was dismissed after Rittenhouse agreed not to engage in conduct deemed to be the unauthorized practice of law. Meanwhile, Rittenhouse was counsel of record in Ernest Desilets’s bankruptcy proceeding in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan. Delta Home Improvement, Inc. (plaintiff) moved to have Rittenhouse suspended, sanctioned for the unauthorized practice of law, and required to disgorge his fees. The bankruptcy court noted that Rittenhouse had been admitted in the Western District but found that admission granted only the power to appear in the court, rather than the power to practice in the court. The court concluded that because the Michigan Bar had not authorized Rittenhouse to practice in Michigan, he was not an attorney for purposes of the Bankruptcy Code. The court ordered Rittenhouse to pay a $3,500 fine and disgorge $872 in fees. Rittenhouse was also indefinitely suspended from appearing before the bankruptcy court. The district court affirmed, and Rittenhouse appealed.