TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Katharine Heriges on Jun 26, 2018
The Tennessee Supreme Court has overturned the decision of a chancery court, which held that an attorney’s license to practice law should be reinstated. Drayton Beecher Smith II agreed to disbarment in conjunction with his 2007 guilty plea to federal charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. In 2014, he sought reinstatement of his license to practice law in Tennessee before a hearing panel of the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR), which ultimately denied the petition. He then appealed the denial of reinstatement to the chancery court. The chancery court reversed the decision and ordered that Smith be reinstated to the practice of law. The BPR filed an appeal with the Tennessee Supreme Court. In a unanimous decision, the court overturned the Chancery Court decision, concluding that the hearing panel was within its authority to deny reinstatement of Smith’s law license.