Nashville lawyer William Alan Alder was disbarred from the practice of law on Dec. 26. The Tennessee Supreme Court found that Alder failed to obtain service of process on defendants in a case, which resulted in the suit being dismissed with prejudice. Alder then failed to inform his clients that the case had been dismissed, instead misleading them into believing that it was progressing normally. Eventually, he told them the suit had settled and provided a fictitious release. Download the BPR notice.

On Dec. 26, Nashville lawyer Edward Kindall was suspended from the practice of law for one year retroactive to May 12, the date he was transferred from disability inactive status to active status. The Tennessee Supreme Court found that Kindall failed to establish internal policies and procedures designed to provide reasonable assurance that his non-lawyer assistant acted in a way compatible with the Rules of Professional Conduct. The court also found that he failed to properly supervise the assistant. Download the BPR notice.

Memphis lawyer Linda Kaye Kendall Garner was publicly censured on Dec. 26 for entering into a contingent fee agreement without putting it in writing and failing to diligently pursue her client's case. Download the BPR notice.

April Rebecca Mims has been temporarily suspended from the practice of law for failing to substantially comply with a monitoring agreement with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program. Download the BPR notice.

Bede O. M. Anyanwu on Dec. 18 received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility. Although his wife was to be the buyer in a real estate transaction, Anyanwu represented the seller in matters related to the transaction, and drafted documents that were misleading as to the true sales price of the property. Download the BPR notice.

A number of Tennessee-licensed lawyers have been reinstated after being administratively suspended for failure to meet CLE requirements in 2012; failure to submit the annual BPR fee and/or IOLTA report in 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2013; and failure to pay the 2012 inactive fee. They are now noted as reinstated. See the updated lists at the links above.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended the law license of John E. Clemmons based upon his plea of guilty to serious crimes of theft in an amount over $60,000, aggravated perjury and TennCare fraud. Download the BPR notice.

Michael Scott Collins of Sumner County was suspended from the practice of law on Dec. 10 for receiving a $27,500 retainer fee to represent a client in a post-divorce criminal contempt proceeding and failing to deposit the retainer into his trust account. Collins also failed to provide agreed upon legal services to his clients, failed to communicate timely with his clients regarding the status of their respective cases and misled his clients regarding the status and progress of their respective cases. The Board of Professional Responsibility found the retainer fees were unreasonable. In addition, the board specifically found Collins charged the client $10,000 to become a member of his “professional family” and that said charge was unrelated to any legal services and constituted an improper and unreasonable fee. View or download the BPR notice.

Knoxville lawyer Jonathan Kenneth Borsodi was suspended for three years retroactive to a temporary suspension order entered in July 2012 for accepting a non-refundable fee in the amount of $7,500 and thereafter, misrepresenting to his client that the appeal was progressing, although the client later discovered the appeal had never been filed. Borsodi failed to respond to his client’s requests for information, abandoned his legal practice without notice to his client and failed to respond to the petition for discipline. Download the BPR notice.

Christopher Wayne Barber, formerly of Clarksville, was suspended for three years on Dec. 9 and is required to pay restitution in the amount of $2,500 for practicing law while suspended and failing to notify his clients of the suspension. Barber also failed repeatedly to respond to his client regarding the status of the case and failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility’s petition of discipline. View or download the BPR notice.