Time Enough

When state bars revise their web pages, the result often is greater transparency in bar disciplinary matters.

Tennessee revised its Board on Professional Responsibility web page a few months ago.

One byproduct of that change was (at least for a Luddite such as myself) was to make it harder, not easier, to locate recent reports.

I have tried to navigate my way to this information and the best I can do is a quarterly report that includes case summaries.

One caught my eye

On September 2, 2012, the Board of Professional Responsibility filed a Petition for Discipline against Mr. Sams. Mr. Sams submitted inflated, false and deceptive fee claims to the Administrative Office of the Courts. From January, 2009 until December 31, 2010, there are approximately 478 days on which Mr. Sams billed more than eight hours to the AOC. For the majority of those days, Mr. Sams billed ten to eleven hours per day. Mr. Sams was unable to produce any documents to verify any billing entry. Mr. Sams billed nearly twelve hours on a day when he attended an eight hour, out of state CLE. Mr. Sams billed the AOC when other lawyers covered for him in court, a practice prohibited by Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 13. On January 16, 2014, the Board of Professional Responsibility filed a Supplemental Petition for Discipline against Mr. Sams alleging that he knowingly understated his income in his personal bankruptcy. A Hearing Panel determined that disbarment was the appropriate sanction. Mr. Sams did not respond to the supplemental petition and he did not appear for the final hearing.

Guess the attorney could not find the time to show up. (Mike Frisch)