Second Suspension Not Necessary

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals denied a petition for an emergency suspension of an already-suspended attorney

We do not intend our denial of the current petition to be deemed critical of ODC’s action in filing a petition for immediate suspension of Mr. Keenan’s license to practice law. Indeed, when such petition was filed, we had not yet suspended Mr. Keenan’s license. In addition, our denial of ODC’s motion should not be viewed as a reflection of the seriousness of Mr. Kennan’s conduct, nor should it be seen as a finding that such conduct would not otherwise pose a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public if his license to practice law had not already been suspended. Instead, it is merely an acknowledgement that, under the specific facts before us, we can identify no way that the requested relief would protect the public from harm in a manner not already accomplished by his current suspension.

Accordingly, because we find that Mr. Keenan does not pose “a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public” that can be remedied by granting the ODC’s petition under Rule 3.27(b), we refuse ODC’s emergency petition.

The court noted

Although we refuse to grant the emergency petition under Rule 3.27, we note our concerns about the new allegations contained in ODC’s emergency petition. We therefore begin with a review of the disciplinary proceedings which led to Mr. Keenan’s current suspension and the new allegations against him. The Hearing Panel Subcommittee (“HPS”) of the Lawyer Disciplinary Board (“LDB”) filed a statement of charges against Mr. Keenan on June 30, 2022. HPS conducted a hearing on May 16, 2023, and found that Mr. Keenan violated Rules 1.8(j) and 8.4(a) and (b) of the West Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct. HPS noted several aggravating factors: experience in the practice of law, a pattern of misconduct, multiple offenses, vulnerability of the clients, and multiple prior disciplinary offenses. HPS also noted mitigating factors: full and free disclosure to the Disciplinary Counsel, cooperation with the disciplinary proceedings, and remoteness of prior offenses.

HPS recommended a six-month suspension of Mr. Keenan’s law license. ODC consented to the recommendation and filed a motion with this Court seeking imposition of this suspension. We agreed and issued an order on November 14, 2023, suspending Mr. Keenan’s law license for six months, subject to reinstatement only upon petition to this Court. Approximately three weeks earlier, on October 26, 2023, ODC had filed the Rule 3.27 petition alleging new misconduct. The new allegations included criminal charges after Mr. Keenan allegedly brandished a gun and caused a disturbance at a Fayetteville ice cream parlor; a report to ODC from Circuit Court Judge Ewing regarding a concerning message forwarded by Mr. Keenan to Judge Ewing and Family Court Judge England via Facebook Messenger; a report of highly offensive text messages sent to a deputy chief probation officer; Mr. Keenan’s alleged failure to attend a properly noticed hearing, resulting in a motion granted in favor of the opposing party; and a recent admonishment by the Investigative Panel for the LDB against Mr. Keenan for threats to opposing counsel.

(Mike Frisch)