Not Now, Not Ever

The Ohio Supreme Court has denied a bar applicant permission to sit for the bar examination and “forever precluded” his future application.

The 1999 University of Akron Law graduate had failed the bar on several occasions.

Harper has owned and operated a tax-preparation and accounting business, Byron L. Harper & Associates, Inc., for some time. In 2009, he was charged in federal district court by way of an information with aiding and assisting in the preparation of false federal income-tax returns in violation of 26 U.S.C. 7206(2)—a felony charge that the board deemed comparable to a fifth degree felony under Ohio law. He pleaded guilty to the information, admitting that he had prepared at least 57 false and fraudulent income-tax returns for no fewer than 19 clients by which they obtained unwarranted or inflated refunds totaling $112,130.

The Board of Commissioners on Character and Fitness found he had mischaracterized his dealings with the IRS.

And

The board found that Harper had filed for personal bankruptcy on at least seven occasions from 2006 through 2009 and was troubled by his failure to disclose those filings on his previous successive bar-exam applications. All of these bankruptcy cases were dismissed for procedural reasons prior to completion, and the board noted that some of the dismissals were due to Harper’s failure to comply with court orders. Moreover, the board found that while Harper insisted in his testimony that all his debts were current, the credit report that he submitted after the hearing showed several debts that were past due and in collections. Therefore, the board concluded that Harper either was not forthright with the panel or he did not have accurate knowledge of his own financial obligations.

The court

Here, the record amply supports the board’s findings that Harper has (1) been convicted of a felony for filing 57 fraudulent tax returns, (2) failed to provide complete and accurate information in multiple applications to take the Ohio bar exam about his debts and his bankruptcy filings, (3) made statements that were false and that omitted material facts, (4) engaged in acts involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation, (5) neglected his financial responsibilities, and (6) failed to comply with orders of the bankruptcy court.

The record also shows that Harper suffers from a combination of physical and mental conditions that he and his treating psychiatrist affirmatively declared (and the federal government found) have rendered him unable to work in any field—and that those conditions are expected to continue indefinitely. In an April 2014 report, Harper’s psychiatrist states that he is compliant with his current treatment regimen, that he is determined to fulfill his responsibilities as the head of his family, and that he strives to set a positive example for his children. Notably absent from that report, however, is any indication that Harper’s physical and mental limitations have improved to the point that he is presently—or will in the future be—capable of practicing law in a competent, ethical, and professional manner. Thus, nothing in the record contradicts the psychiatrist’s April 2010 certification that Harper’s mental and physical conditions will continue to render him totally and permanently disabled.

Justices French and O’Neill would permit him t o sit for the February 2020 exam. (Mike Frisch)