Indiana Wants Me, Lord I Can’t Go Back There

An attorney who was reciprocally suspended in Indiana in 2000 after a Kentucky suspension was reinstated in Kentucky in 2009 but not in Indiana.

He did use his Indiana license after suspension

 Respondent admits practicing law in Indiana while suspended but asserts, without verification or any supporting evidence, that he believed he had been readmitted to practice in Indiana.

Respondent’s professed belief, even if credited, was not reasonable under the circumstances. Accord Matter of Ayres, 51 N.E.3d 1139 (Ind. 2016). Respondent tendered a request for readmission in 2010 in DI-101, but that request was noncompliant with our disciplinary rules and, accordingly, was rejected by the Clerk for filing and never considered or ruled upon by this Court. Respondent took no further action in DI-101 and took no action whatsoever in DI-509. In short, Respondent had no reasonable basis for believing he had been reinstated in Indiana.

Moreover, the case records before us reflect that Respondent’s suspended status was called to his attention by the judge in a Hendricks County case in August 2013. Even assuming Respondent had believed up until that point that he had been reinstated in Indiana, he was put clearly on notice in August 2013 that he remained in suspended status, and indeed he acknowledged in a notice filed with the court the need to “either resolve the licensure issue or secure substitute counsel.” Yet, several of the remaining cases referenced in the Commission’s verified petition involve actions by Respondent unquestionably constituting the practice of law that occurred later in 2013, in 2014, and even as late as September 2015. Accordingly, we find that Respondent has violated this Court’s orders suspending him from the practice of law in Indiana and that he is guilty of indirect contempt of this Court.

 He was fined $1,000 and the reciprocal suspension was converted into a two year suspension with proof of fitness. (Mike Frisch)