Reinstated

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has reinstated an attorney suspended for a year for conduct that took place in the wake of her divorce and the death of her father.

From the suspension order

Despite the fact that [the attorney] is afflicted with a substantial proclivity for substance abuse and a very serious mental health condition, she was apparently able to compensate well during the decade that preceded her precipitous decline after 2010. It is abundantly clear that that she went seriously “off the rails” (a term that was used on numerous occasions during the hearing) thereafter.

The court has little difficulty in concluding that the combined effects of these conditions clearly produced a substantial incapacity that adversely impacted [her] ability to practice law and resulted in a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public. Indeed, during this time, she was essentially unable to manage her own affairs, let alone the complex matters involved in the representation of others. The court finds that the incapacitating symptoms of these conditions remain essentially as florid today as they were during the last two years. Accordingly, the court hereby orders that [she] be suspended from the practice of law in the State of Maine.

The issues of the duration and conditions of the suspension are conjoined with [her] insight into her medical conditions and the progress she has made to manage them.

The reinstatement is subject to a number of conditions. (Mike Frisch)