Ripe For Reinstatement

The Ohio Supreme Court has imposed a two-year suspension of an attorney convicted of federal tax offenses.

In the complaint, relator alleged that after a two-week criminal trial in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, a jury found that Lawrence had knowingly underreported income from various businesses that he owned in whole or in part for the 2004, 2005, and 2006 tax years. Some of the unreported income came from businesses that were tangentially related to his practice of law—including rental income that he received from other attorneys. Lawrence was convicted in July 2012 of three counts of filing false tax returns in violation of 26 U.S.C. 7206(1) and sentenced to 27 months of incarceration on each count to be served concurrently, followed by a one-year term of supervised release.

The attorney did not contest the charges.

A majority of the court concluded that the sanction be imposed with credit for time served since the attorney’s November 2012 interim suspension. Presumably, that conclusion means he can immediately seek reinstatement.

Three justices were not persuaded

O’CONNOR, C.J., and O’DONNELL and KENNEDY, JJ., dissent and would remand the cause to the Board of Professional Conduct to reconsider the grant of credit for time served under interim suspension.

(Mike Frisch)