Two Year Suspension For Former Ohio Bar Association President

From the web page of the Ohio Supreme Court

In a…disciplinary case  involving an attorney from Gates Mills, the Supreme Court suspended Leslie W.  Jacobs for two years because of a 2012 felony conviction for filing false  tax returns. The court has given Jacobs credit for the time he already has been  suspended on an interim basis following that conviction.

While working as the senior  partner at a large law firm, Jacobs inflated his deductions for business  expenses when filing his own tax returns for tax years 2004 to 2007. Among his  improper deductions: he reported expenses, such as travel on client matters,  that had already been reimbursed by his firm; he deducted meals and  entertainment at 100 percent of the costs, knowing that only 50 percent was  eligible as a business expense; he claimed expenses that are not deductible,  such as private club memberships, personal meals, and personal uses of the  clubs; and he deducted costs for two leased vehicles entirely as business  expenses even though he used the cars for personal reasons and had been  reimbursed from his firm for business mileage.

According to the court’s  unanimous per curiam opinion: “In  the false returns for those four years, Jacobs understated his taxable income  by $256,380 and overstated his expenses by $253,256, resulting in unpaid taxes  of $75,385.”

Jacobs pled guilty in November  2011 to a federal charge of filing false tax returns. The next April, the Ohio  Supreme Court suspended him for an interim period from practicing law.

Jacobs paid the unpaid  taxes the day he was sentenced, served a one-year prison term, completed home  confinement and supervised release, and paid a $10,000 fine. Given these  penalties and the fact that Jacobs had no prior disciplinary record, cooperated  in the disciplinary proceedings, acknowledged that his conduct was wrong, and  has been active in the legal community as a former Ohio State Bar Association  president and as an officer and committee chair for the American Bar  Association, the court determined that the appropriate sanction is a two-year suspension  with credit for the time he has served since the 2012 interim suspension.

2013-1230. Disciplinary  Counsel v. Jacobs, Slip  Opinion No. 2014-Ohio-2137.

Details here from Pat Galbincea of the Plain Dealer. (Mike Frisch)