The Tennessee Supreme Court disbarred Georgia lawyer Stephen V. Fitzgerald Jr. on April 17, after the Supreme Court of Georgia accepted his decision to voluntarily surrender his license. Pursuant to the Rules of Discipline of the State Bar of Georgia, a voluntary surrender of license is tantamount to disbarment. With regard to his Tennessee license, Fitzgerald must pay the Board of Professional Responsibility’s costs and wait five years before seeking reinstatement. Download the BPR release

Chattanooga lawyer John McConnell Wolfe Jr. was censured by the Board of Professional Responsibility  on April 13 for not filing a lawsuit in time after a personal injury action against a Veterans’ Administration Hospital was denied. The lawsuit was dismissed because of the failure to comply with the statutory deadlines, then Wolfe failed to notify his client. Therefore he violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3 (diligence), 1.4 (communication), 3.2 (expediting litigation), and 8.4 (misconduct). Download the BPR release

Five Tennessee-licensed lawyers have been reinstated after being administratively suspended for failure to file the 2012 registration fee and IOLTA report, while two lawyers have been reinstated after CLE noncompliance in 2010, one lawyer has been reinstated after CLE noncompliance in 2009, and one lawyer has been reinstated after CLE noncompliance in 2008. See updated lists at the links above.

Davidson County lawyer Aneel M. Pandey was publicly censured on April 11. Pandey self-reported to the Board of Professional Responsibility that as a party to a divorce action, he lied under oath on three occasions about events that were material to the divorce. He responded to an interrogatory untruthfully, testified in his deposition that the answer to the interrogatory was truthful, and further untruthfully testified about the subject. When confronted with conclusive evidence later in the deposition, Pandey admitted that he had been untruthful in his prior testimony. Download the BPR release

Memphis lawyer Karen Wilson Tyler was temporarily suspended from the practice of law April 5, for failing to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility regarding a complaint of misconduct. She is precluded from accepting any new cases and by May 5 must cease representing existing clients, using any indicia of lawyer, legal assistant or law clerk or maintaining a presence where the practice of law is conducted. Download the BPR's release

On Monday, Hawkins County Sessions Judge James “Jay” Taylor filed his response to five charges from the Board of Professional Responsibility by stating he had been advised by counsel to assert and invoke his Fifth Amendment right. A hearing will now be scheduled. Four of the charges Taylor faces pertain to allegations of theft against clients in his private practice. These charges are separate from four charges filed against Taylor in January by the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary. The Times News has more

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended the law license of Knoxville attorney John O. Threadgill on March 30, pursuant to Section 14 of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, based upon his plea of guilty to a serious crime, in this case, theft. The court further ordered the Board of Professional Responsibility to institute a formal proceeding to determine the extent of final discipline to be imposed as a result of the conviction. Download the BPR release

The Tennessee Supreme Court this week issued two new orders suspending Tennessee-licensed attorneys who did not pay their 2012 registration fee to the Board of Professional Responsibility and/or did not file a mandatory compliance statement that eligible client funds are held in accounts participating in the Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. The lists reflect lawyers not in compliance as of their February birthdate. The orders entered earlier this month covered lawyers with January birthdates. See the updated lists

Lance W. Parr, formerly of Athens, was suspended on March 23 for one year by the Tennessee Supreme Court. He must also be evaluated by the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) and comply with all TLAP’s recommendations as a condition to any reinstatement. Among other actions, Parr represented a client in a divorce with whom he was having an affair, and he failed to adequately advise the client of the conflict or obtain a waiver of the conflict. A hearing panel determined that his actions violated Rule 1.7 (conflicts); 3.1 (meritorious claims); 3.3 (candor toward the tribunal); and 8.4 (misconduct). Download the release from the BPR

By order of the Tennessee Supreme Court entered March 16, the law license of Nashville lawyer James A. Hewitt was transferred to disability inactive status pursuant to Section 21 of Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9. Download the BPR release