REINSTATED

The following lawyers had their law licenses reinstated after being on inactive status for more than five years:

• Williamson County lawyer Randy Wayne Hardison, April 4
• Kentucky lawyer Katherine Anne Shepherd, June 4
• New Mexico lawyer Samantha Alane Smith, April 29
• Virginia lawyer Atina Rizk Stavropoulos, May 23

The following lawyers had their law licenses reinstated after being on disability inactive status:

• Williamson County lawyer Jay Nelson Chamness, April 17
• Maury County lawyer James Thomas Dubois Jr., April 10

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated Knox County lawyer Matthew David Barocas to the practice of law on May 14, conditioned on his continued compliance with conditions imposed when the court suspended him on Jan. 18. Barocas was suspended for one year, with three months to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation. During the probationary period he must engage a practice monitor, complete the Board of Professional Responsibility’s Trust Account Workshop as well as additional continuing legal education hours, and pay disciplinary costs. He also must not incur new complaints of misconduct related to the suspension.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated Coffee County lawyer Matthew Lee Harris on May 22. The court had suspended Harris on April 17 for being substantially noncompliant with a Tennessee Lawyer Assistance Program (TLAP) monitoring agreement and posing a risk of substantial harm to the public. Harris petitioned the court for dissolution of the suspension on May 16. The Board of Professional Responsibility reported that Harris had remedied his noncompliance and sufficiently established his fitness to practice law.

DISABILITY INACTIVE

The following lawyers had their law licenses transferred to disability inactive status. They may not practice law while on inactive status. They may seek reinstatement by the Tennessee Supreme Court after showing that the disability has been removed.

• Shelby County lawyer Richard Alan Gordon, May 31
• Shelby County attorney Jack Randal Tomblin, April 18

DISCIPLINARY
Disbarred

The Tennessee Supreme Court permanently disbarred Christopher Shawn Roberts from the practice of law on May 10, and ordered him to close his law firm IOLTA account, pay restitution to his former client and pay all costs incurred to the Board of Professional Responsibility. The court took the action after finding that Roberts failed to diligently represent a client, provide competent representation, turn over client materials after termination of representation and reasonably communicate with his client. He also was found to have knowingly violated court orders, charged an unreasonable fee, concealed documents meant for others, advised his client to lie to a court officer, provided false information to the court, and engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, deceit, and misrepresentations. His actions were determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct: 1.1, 1.2(a) and (d), 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.16, 3.2, 3.3(a), 3.4(c), 4.1(a) and 8.4(a)(c)(d).

Suspended

The following lawyers were suspended from the practice of law after failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility about a misconduct complaint:

• Hamilton County lawyer Arthur C. Grisham, April 29
• Knox County lawyer James Patrick Henry, May 6
• Hamilton County lawyer Steven Michael Hodgen, May 31
• Cumberland County lawyer Melanie Beth Shada, April 25

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Chattanooga attorney David James Fulton from the practice of law on April 9  after finding Fulton misappropriated funds for his personal use and posed a threat of substantial harm to the public.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Georgia attorney John Cris Helton from the practice of law in Tennessee on April 8 for five years, with four years to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation so long as Helton engages a practice monitor. The court found that Helton failed to file required federal income tax returns for several years and willfully attempted to avoid tax liabilities. After the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) initiated civil litigation against Helton to recover approximately $400,000 in owed income taxes, Helton filed for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection, asserting that the IRS lien should be discharged. The federal bankruptcy court determined that the tax debt was non-dischargeable because the failure to pay was willful and intentional. On appeal, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court ruling. Helton agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging his conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4(c).

The Tennessee Supreme Court on June 12 imposed a three-year suspension on Knoxville attorney Loring Justice. The decision affirmed the recommendation of a hearing panel and overturned a chancery court decision, which had imposed permanent disbarment. The court found that Justice filed various motions, which contained insulting and inflammatory statements about the judge presiding over a child custody dispute involving his minor child and the child’s mother. Justice previously was disbarred in 2019, under previous rules that did not make that discipline permanent.

Montgomery County lawyer Joel David Ragland was suspended from the practice of law on April 12 after the Tennessee Supreme Court found that he misappropriated funds for his personal use and posed a threat of substantial harm to the public.

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Shelby County lawyer Sheila L. Robinson-Beasley on April 4 after finding that she misappropriated funds and property for her personal use, and posed a threat of substantial harm to the public.

Censured

The Tennessee Supreme Court publicly censured Williamson County lawyer Jay Nelson Chamness on April 17 for violating Rules of Professional Conduct 4.1, 8.4(c) and 8.4(a). Chamness represented a plaintiff asserting employment discrimination in a case filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. Over the course of 11 months, Chamness made at least four false statements to opposing counsel about personal circumstances for which he needed extensions of time. In the last instance, Chamness asked to reschedule depositions and for more time to draft a motion because his mother had died, when she was, in fact, still alive.

The Tennessee Supreme Court censured Shelby County lawyer William Ray Glasgow on April 3. The court found that a lawsuit Glasgow filed on behalf of a client against a sitting judge lacked any meritorious basis in fact or law, and was done solely to advance his own interests as a candidate challenging the judge in an upcoming judicial election. The court also found that the lawsuit contained a false or reckless statement that the sitting judge had engaged in “constructive kidnapping” of a minor child with “willful and deliberate malice and intent” while presiding over a dependent and neglect proceeding. These actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.3, 3.1, 4.4(a)(l), 8.2(a) and 8.4(d).

Obion County attorney David Lynn Hamblen received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 23. Hamblen represented the mother of a child in a custody matter in which an order had been entered granting the mother supervised visitation. The parties and their counsels were discussing entering an agreed order giving the mother unsupervised visitation, but prior to any agreement on that issue, Hamblen’s client called him and said she was having a problem arranging for supervised visitation. Hamblen instructed his client to go ahead with unsupervised visitation. Opposing counsel filed a motion for contempt, and Hamblen told opposing counsel that he had instructed his client not to comply with the existing court order, and that he knew no order had been entered relieving her of the supervised visitation. The court found that Hamblen violated Rules of Professional Conduct 3.4 and 8.4(d).

The Tennessee Supreme Court censured Madison County lawyer Marcus Allen Lipham on April 10. for violating Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.2(a), 1.3, 1.4, 1.5(c) and 3.1. The court found that Lipham filed a lawsuit on behalf of a client that lacked any meritorious basis in fact or law. He then subsequently failed to file a response to the defense counsel’s motion to dismiss or seek leave to amend the original complaint, and agreed to dismissal of the suit with prejudice without his client’s informed consent. The court said Lipham also failed to respond to a motion for sanctions filed by defense counsel or notify his client of the motion hearing.

Shelby County lawyer Kelvin Arthur Massey received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 23. The court found that while under active suspension from the practice of law, Massey engaged in unauthorized practice by providing legal advice, drafting legal documents, providing legal services, and holding out to the public that he was an attorney licensed to practice law in Tennessee. His actions were determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 3.4(c), 5.5(b)(2) and 8.4(g).

On April 10, Overton County lawyer Lynda W. Patterson received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court. Patterson was hired to seek damages against the former residential tenants of her client. She negotiated an agreed judgment with the tenants, prepared the order, secured signatures and mailed the document to the court. The order though was never entered by the court. Patterson’s client contacted her twice about the status of the order, but she did not respond. Fourteen months later Patterson discovered the order had not been entered and proceeded with a default judgment against the former tenants. The court found that her actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 3.2 and 8.4(d).

The Tennessee Supreme Court censured Hawkins County attorney Terry Risner on April 9. The court found that Risner did not timely file a brief on behalf of a client with the Court of Appeals, despite being given two 10-day extensions. These actions were determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 3.4 and 8.4(d).

Administrative Suspensions

Notice of attorneys suspended for, and reinstated from, administrative violations – including failure to pay the Board of Professional Responsibility licensing and inactive fees, file the required IOLTA report, comply with continuing legal education requirements, and pay the Tennessee professional privilege tax – is on the TBA website at www.tba.org/administrative_suspensions. |||