TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jul 12, 2022

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently rejected a recommendation for discipline as too lenient. The Board of Professional Responsibility had recommended that Sevierville lawyer James Ralph Hickman Jr. be suspended for one year, with “no less than 90 days” to be served on active suspension and the remainder on conditional probation. The court said it was concerned that the punishment was too lenient and “not comparable to the punishment imposed in similar cases.” It also expressed concern about the indefinite language used to define the period of active suspension. The board now has 30 days to file additional information. Hickman has 20 days to file his brief, after which, the board will have 20 days to file its brief.