Posted below are the Mississippi Bar's disciplinary actions in 2020. They were obtained through a public records request. The orders are included as well.
Richard Vaughn Johnson
Johnson was "incapacitate" for most of 2007. The order states he "began the rehabilitation process." The Bar placed him on inactive-disability status in 2008. The Supreme Court reinstated him in 2019 after it determined he possessed the "personal capacity" to practice law.
Several bar complaints were filed against Johnson prior to his being place on inactive status. Johnson agreed to disbarment. The Supreme Court said his inactive status amounted to a disbarment of over ten years. It decreed he could reapply for admission after paying investigative costs and other fees.
Ramel Cotton
A Bar tribunal disbarred Cotton in 2017 after it ruled that he stole from clients, approved the forging of signatures, refused to provide his trust account records when ordered to do so, and lied to the tribunal. Earlier post.
Additional complaints were filed against Cotton. The Bar filed another formal complaint against him in 2019. He did not contest the complaint and agreed his actions warranted disbarment. He blamed his problems on his wife's cancer diagnosis and his "excessive drinking."
The Supreme Court disbarred Cotton and referred him to the Lawyers and Judges Assistance Program for treatment of his addiction.
John Anderson
Anderson was already suspended from the practice of law. A client hired Anderson to stop a garnishment related to forged loan documents. The client's ex-wife forged the documents. Anderson took no action to stop the garnishment nor did he sue the ex-wife before the statute of limitations expired.
The Bar issued a public reprimand to Anderson.
Kenneth Grigsby
Grigsby was already suspended from the practice of law when the Supreme Court issued this order. The client claimed Grigsby missed several court dates on a divorce and misdemeanor charges. He also failed to file an appeal. The attorney did not respond to the Bar's requests for more information. He failed to appear at his hearing as well.
The Supreme Court issued a public reprimand against Grigsby.
Kingfish note: Attorney's don't want to show up for their hearings? No problem. The Bar should be allowed to suspend their license for an additional six months.
Thomas Belleperche
The Indiana Supreme Court disbarred Belleperche after he was convicted of a Level 6 Felony after he was convicted of multiple DWI's. He can't reapply for readmission for five years. The Mississippi Bar followed suit and disbarred Belleperche.
Torrance Colvin
The DC Bar disbarred Colvin and the Mississippi Bar followed suit.
17 comments:
When are they going to disbar Carlos the Clown?
KF - you can get the same information from the Bar magazine. No need for a FOI request.
drop in the bucket-
If that is all of the disbarments over the last few years, we either have the best legal system in the USA or the system is virtually nonexistent, and I am pretty sure I have the answer.
That's hardly all the disciplinary cases handed down in 2020. Tons of public and private reprimands not to mention informal admonitions which are not public. Jeesh dude.
When are they going to disbar Baby Chok for impersonating a mayor?
Green Acres: Not true.
To get it online, first you must scour the website. You must first click on the drop down menu for lawyers, then click on publications. Then you will see Mississippi Lawyer. Click on that. Now keep in mind this is one of those things where you already have to know what you are looking for. If you are a member of the general public approaching the website for the first time, good luck because you are going to need it.
I click on the Mississippi Lawyer and instead of going into a pdf format AS IT USED TO DO, it now opens up into some online special reader.
Wait a second, the current issue doesn't have report them. Zero. Nada. Zilch.
So now I click on archived issues. Let's try Winter 2020.
Wow. There they are on p.35. However, it is almost impossible to read as the print is soooooooo small and there is no zoom feature. This wasn't a problem when it was available in pdf online.
Available online indeed.
Most states make them easily available on their bar websites. They don't hide them and make them impossible to read.
Who runs or has run his association over the last several decades. These people’s job obviously wasn’t to report problem attorneys, but to protect them. Perpetuate the problems.
You all assume that there are a lot of bad attorneys to protect. Please pardon the pun, but the bar has been set high enough to keep the problems out. It's actually ironic because that is the very reason for this little blogger's obsession.
How about this? Let's do this for every profession that involves relationships of trust. Do we?
As a lawyer I get it, but it feels a tad discriminatory when I know other professions don't have offender registries.
@2:37 What are you talking about? I am an architect and all disciplinary actions are published by the state board. I imagine it to be the same for all licensed professions.
@2:37 - Bankers do. The Fed can provide a list of less than honorable ones. This occurred after the 2008 crisis.
Disbarred for being incapacitated? That sounds like an ADA issue.
I'd love to see the list of County Supervisors who are 'less than honorable', but there's only so much band width.
@2:37
You think lawyers have tough oversight? I have to deal with the SEC, IRS, DOL, and State Agencies' bureaucratic regulations everyday and am audited yearly for each. I can guarantee you anyone in my profession that gets hit with disciplinary action will be on the front page of the CL... not the back page of the MS Bar magazine. Attorney oversight is a joke in this state.
KF - I noticed that the info was missing from the most recent magazine, too, but assumed it was a failure to get it to the printer in time for publication. It would be shameful if the Bar has decided not to provide the information in a user-friendly format, but typical of the MS Bar to protect its own from public scrutiny.
For those who ask who, exactly, runs the bar association, it has been my impression over several decades that it is controlled by the big defense firms, such as those involved in the timber ponzi scheme.
Stay on them - no one else will do it.
Kenneth Grigsby has been disbarred. He did a lot more than just missing court appearances!
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