Far And Away

The Ohio Supreme Court has ordered a six-month suspension of an attorney currently serving an interim suspension for a felony money laundering conviction.

Before his conviction, in an amended four-count complaint filed with the Board of Professional Conduct on March 10, 2016, relator, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, charged King with failing to inform three clients that he did not carry professional liability insurance, failing to provide competent representation to one of those clients, and failing to cooperate in all three ensuing disciplinary investigations. On the day of the formal hearing, however, the chair of the panel appointed to hear the case granted relator’s motion to withdraw the alleged violations in Count 3 concerning competent representation and professional liability insurance.

On sanction

the board found that King had not acted with a dishonest or selfish motive, appeared to have a good character or reputation apart from the charged misconduct, had provided his services to court-appointed clients pro bono, had provided a frank, candid, and contrite acknowledgment of his wrongful conduct, and had attempted, but failed, to comply with the requirements of Prof.Cond.R. 1.4(c) by including a paragraph in his fee agreement stating that he did not carry professional liability insurance. The board also noted that at the time of his misconduct, not only was King’s wife divorcing him, but she had also emptied his home and his bank accounts before moving to Ireland. King lost his home, felt compelled to relocate his law practice, and—just two weeks before the hearing in this matter—lost his father, who had been ill for some time. The board determined that King had self-medicated with alcohol during this period and that he had entered into an OLAP contract to address this problem—though he was not compliant with his contract at the time of the hearing…

Acknowledging the recent turmoil in King’s life, his efforts to overcome his problems, and the need to protect the public from future harm, the board recommended that we suspend King from the practice of law for six months, all stayed on the conditions that he remain in full compliance with his OLAP contract, complete six hours of CLE in law-office-practice management, and work with a mentor to be selected by relator. Although we recognize that King’s license to practice law is currently suspended on an interim basis as a result of his felony conviction, we find that the recommended sanction is commensurate with the sanctions we have imposed for comparable misconduct. We therefore adopt the board’s recommended sanction.

(Mike Frisch)