The Tennessee Supreme Court on May 24 suspended 17 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 15 of them also failed to file proof that client funds are held in an IOLTA-compliant account. View the fee suspension order and IOLTA suspension order. Ten lawyers suspended this year also have been reinstated. See the list of all lawyers suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2024 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

Hamilton County lawyer Kent Thomas Jones has been reinstated to the active practice of law. He had been suspended for 90 days on Feb. 26. Jones filed a petition for reinstatement on June 5. The Board of Professional Responsibility found that the petition was satisfactory but directed Jones to pay half of the costs of the disciplinary hearing within 30 days and the remaining amount within 60 days.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended Knox County lawyer Jonathan William Doolan from the practice of law for nine months, with one month to be served on active suspension and the remainder on probation with conditions. According to the court’s order, Doolan must contract with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program and comply with any of its recommendations. The action was taken based on two complaints that Doolan failed to reasonably communicate with his clients, act in a diligent manner, expedite litigation, respond to discovery requests in a timely manner, properly withdraw from representation, work within the scope of his representation, take reasonable steps to protect the client’s interest after terminating representation, and comply with requests for information from disciplinary counsel. Doolan agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging his conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.16, 3.2, 3.4 and 8.1.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today conditioned reinstatement of Davidson County lawyer Wendy Sue O’Neill on her completion of continuing legal education requirements. O’Neill petitioned the court for reinstatement on June 20. The court indicated that if the requirements are not met by Aug. 12, then the reinstatement petition will be dismissed.

On June 24, Coffee County lawyer Judith-Anne Ross St. Clair was reinstated to the active practice of law with conditions. The Tennessee Supreme Court directed St. Clair to engage a practice monitor for one year, continue to comply with her current Tennessee Lawyer Assistance Program (TLAP) monitoring agreement, attend the next two Camp TLAP events, continue to engage with her therapist for one year, and complete 15 hours of continuing legal education, including at least three hours of legal ethics, as long as she remains licensed. St. Clair was suspended in July 2018 with three years to be served on active suspension and six months to be served on probation.

Davidson County lawyer Eric Donn Miller was reinstated to the practice of law on June 14. He had been on inactive status since June 26, 2012. The Tennessee Supreme Court took the action after the Board of Professional Responsibility reported that Miller’s petition for reinstatement was satisfactory.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has permanently disbarred Davidson County lawyer Robert Allen Doll III after he was convicted on three criminal charges. The decision upholds the recommendation of a Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) hearing panel and the Davidson County Chancery Court, both of which Doll had challenged. The court found that Doll, while representing a client in post-divorce proceedings, signed the client’s name to a petition and instructed the client to tell the court she had signed the document. The client testified that Doll never informed her she could be charged for lying under oath, and in fact, she was indicted on two counts of aggravated perjury. A jury convicted Doll on two counts of subornation of aggravated perjury for having his client lie under oath and one count of criminal simulation for forging the client’s signature. Read the opinion or more about the case in a release from the court or access the BPR press release.

On June 17, the Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a petition for reinstatement from Julia Givens Williams, a lawyer in Alabama. Williams was seeking reinstatement from inactive status. Because she had been on inactive status for less than five years, the court directed her to refile the petition with the Board of Professional Responsibility.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has asked the Board of Professional Responsibility to take whatever action it deems necessary after Greene County lawyer Edward Lee Kershaw pled guilty to driving under the influence (DUI) in violation of T.C.A. 55-10-401 in the Loudon County General Sessions Court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a petition for reinstatement from Howard Macarthur Romaine, a lawyer in North Carolina, on June 17. Romaine was seeking reinstatement from being on disability inactive status since January 2017. The Board of Professional Responsibility recommended dismissal of the petition based on Romaine’s failure to satisfy outstanding obligations with it as well as the Tennessee Department of Revenue and the Appellate Court Cost Center. On April 24, the court gave Romaine until June 10 to satisfy his outstanding obligations — which he did not do — or face dismissal of his petition.