Blow Up
The Ohio Supreme Court has imposed a three-year reciprocal suspension based on a sanction imposed in Kentucky.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reported on the Kentucky action
A prominent and controversial Northern Kentucky attorney is barred from practicing law for three years, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Ben Dusing’s suspension stems from his conduct during custody disputes over his children with two separate women, in which Dusing threatened to blow up two attorneys.
In a ruling filed Thursday, justices agreed with the Kentucky Bar Association’s Board of Governors’ October 2023 recommendation that Dusing be suspended for three years without credit for time served. He’s been temporarily suspended from practicing law since early 2022.
He also threatened the judge and opposing attorneys with disciplinary complaints and approached authorities over “what he contends was criminally corrupt conduct in the proceedings,” the document says.
Court filings state Dusing even asked his attorney to pay a psychologist $5,000 to change a custodial evaluation.
Dusing has yet to respond to an email from The Enquirer seeking comment. Attempts to reach him by phone on Friday were unsuccessful.
In 2021, Dusing posted a threatening Facebook message in 2021 aimed at two attorneys involved in his case in Kenton County Family Court and used the word “f—,” or some variation of it, almost 50 times in a roughly nine-minute video.
The justices noted that the video was “incredibly disturbing and threatening.”
Dusing has since apologized for posting the video, saying that he was advocating for court reform and was frustrated by alleged “corruption” in the family court process – a notion the justices disputed, court records state.
In their ruling, the justices outline various forms of misconduct by Dusing, including his “history of engaging in frivolous litigation” in family court proceedings.
“Dusing failed to use the law’s procedures for legitimate purposes and instead intentionally sought to harass and intimidate others,” the ruling states.
Dusing filed several motions seeking recusal of the judge who presided over both cases, filed almost two dozen appellate actions between his two cases and sought to have an opposing attorney disqualified just days before a trial’s scheduled start.
Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter and Justices Debra Lambert, Kelly Thompson and Michelle Keller ruled in favor of the suspension. Justices Angela McCormick Bisig and Robert Conley agreed that Dusing violated ethical rules but advocated instead for permanent disbarment.
(Mike Frisch)