PUBLISHED

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

No. 21-1632

U. S. TRUSTEE,

Plaintiff – Appellee,

v.

DARREN THOMAS DELAFIELD,

Defendant – Appellant,

and

UPRIGHT LAW, LLC; LAW SOLUTIONS CHICAGO, LLC; JASON ROYCE ALLEN; KEVIN CHERN; EDMUND SCANLAN; SPERRO, LLC; JOHN CARTER MORGAN, JR., PLLC; JOHN C. MORGAN,

Defendants,

ANDRIAN SHANNON WILLIAMS; TIMOTHY JAMES WILLIAMS, JR.,

Respondents.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, at Roanoke. Michael F. Urbanski, Chief District Judge. (7:20-cv-00714-MFU)

Argued: October 25, 2022 Decided: January 11, 2023

Before KING and QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judges, and M. Hannah LAUCK, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia, sitting by designation. USCA4 Appeal: 21-1632 Doc: 37 Filed: 01/11/2023 Pg: 2 of 12

Affirmed by published opinion. Judge Quattlebaum wrote the opinion, in which Judge King and Judge Lauck join. Judge King wrote a concurring opinion.

ARGUED: Darren Thomas Delafield, LAW OFFICE OF DARREN DELAFIELD, PC, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellant. Sumi Kay Sakata, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C., for Appellee. ON BRIEF: Ramona D. Elliott, Deputy Director/General Counsel, P. Matthew Sutko, Associate General Counsel, Executive Office for United States Trustees, UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, Washington, D.C.; John P. Fitzgerald III, Acting United States Trustee, Region 4, Margaret K. Garber, Assistant United States Trustee, W. Joel Charboneau, OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRUSTEE, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee.

2 USCA4 Appeal: 21-1632 Doc: 37 Filed: 01/11/2023 Pg: 3 of 12

QUATTLEBAUM, Circuit Judge:

A bankruptcy court imposed sanctions against Darren Thomas Delafield. After the

district court affirmed those sanctions, Delafield appealed, asserting the sanctions order

violated his due process rights. To be sure, a lawyer facing suspension or disbarment is

entitled to notice of the charges for which such discipline is sought and an opportunity to

be heard on those issues. Nell v. United States, 450 F.2d 1090, 1093 (4th Cir. 1971). But

our review of the record reveals that Delafield was afforded sufficient process. Thus, we

affirm.

I.

The sanctions arose from an adversary proceeding in the bankruptcy court brought

by the United States Trustee against Delafield, UpRight Law LLC, Sperro LLC and other

defendants. J.A. 1. UpRight is a Chicago-based bankruptcy legal services company that

operates through a nationwide network of “local partners.” J.A. 679–80. After Delafield

signed a partnership agreement with UpRight, he filed more than 30 bankruptcy cases as a

partner. J.A. 682–83.

The United States Trustee’s complaint sought sanctions for Delafield’s

representation of UpRight clients Timothy and Andrian Williams. J.A. 691. The Trustee

alleged the Williamses participated in Upright’s New Car Custody Program (“NCCP”).

UpRight operated the NCCP through a partnership with Sperro, a separate company in the

repossession industry. J.A. 7–9. Through the program, UpRight purported to assist clients

that needed to surrender possession of their cars by offering Sperro’s services. But in

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