The Tennessee Supreme Court has directed the Board of Professional Responsibility to hold a hearing and file a recommendation related to its petition to temporarily suspend Arthur C. Grisham Jr. On April 29, the court suspended Grisham for failing to respond to a complaint against him. On May 23, Grisham filed a response to the suspension. On May 31, the board filed its response. After considering the two filings, the court determined that “factual disputes warrant a hearing.”

The Tennessee Supreme Court has rejected a Board of Professional Responsibility petition for immediate suspension of Hawkins County lawyer Daniel Graham Boyd. The court took the action after a trial court granted Boyd judicial diversion. The court also directed the board to “evaluate the facts and circumstances” of the case and proceed as appropriate.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently granted a request from Knox County lawyer Mark Steven Graham for a hearing to reconsider a temporary suspension imposed on May 20 for failure to comply with a Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) monitoring agreement. The court had rejected a similar request in May, but said Graham had since “alleged sufficient facts to establish good cause” for a hearing. The court cited his willingness to execute and comply with a monitoring agreement. It directed the Board of Professional Responsibility to hold a hearing and its recommendation with the “utmost speed consistent with due process.”

The Tennessee Supreme Court has imposed a three-year suspension on Knoxville attorney Loring Justice. The decision affirmed the recommendation of a hearing panel and overturned a chancery court decision, which had imposed permanent disbarment. The court found that Justice filed various motions, which contained insulting and inflammatory statements about the judge presiding over a child custody dispute involving his minor child and the child’s mother. Justice previously was disbarred in 2019, under previous rules that did not make that discipline permanent. Read more in a release from the court.

Kentucky lawyer Katherine Anne Shepherd has been reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee after being on inactive status for more than five years. Shepherd was placed on inactive status on April 11, 2012. Her reinstatement was made effective as of June 4.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has given Mississippi lawyer Andrew Jackson Clark until July 25 to complete outstanding obligations with the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education. If the obligations are not satisfied by then, the court says it will dismiss the petition. Clark filed the petition on June 3.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has permanently disbarred Christopher Shawn Roberts from the practice of law and ordered him to close his law firm IOLTA account, pay restitution to his former client and pay all costs incurred to the Board of Professional Responsibility. The court took the action after finding that Roberts failed to diligently represent a client, provide competent representation, turn over client materials after termination of representation and reasonably communicate with his client. He also was found to have knowingly violated court orders, charged an unreasonable fee, concealed documents meant for others, advised his client to lie to a court officer, provided false information to the court, and engaged in conduct involving dishonesty, deceit, and misrepresentations. His actions were determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct: 1.1, 1.2(a) and (d), 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.16, 3.2, 3.3(a), 3.4(c), 4.1(a) and 8.4(a)(c)(d).

The Tennessee Supreme Court today referred a petition for reinstatement to the Board of Professional Responsibility. Bradley County lawyer Kent Thomas Jones filed the petition on June 3 after being suspended by the court on Feb. 26 for 90 days. The board requested that the court refer the petition to it, noting that attorneys suspended for less than one year must file petitions for reinstatement with the board, not the court. The court referred the petition to the board for its consideration.

The Tennessee Supreme Court is giving Hamilton County lawyer Jennifer Yates Stickley extra time to complete required CLE hours. On April 5, Stickley filed a petition for reinstatement from inactive status. The Board of Professional Responsibility stated that it had no objection to reinstatement but noted outstanding obligations with the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education. On April 16, the court issued an order that the petition would be dismissed if requirements were not met by May 31. On May 29, the commission reported that Stickley had “nearly satisfied” the requirements but likely would not complete all necessary steps by the deadline. In light of her compliance efforts, the court granted an extension of the deadline to July 1.

The law license of Shelby County lawyer Richard Alan Gordon was transferred to disability inactive status on May 31. Gordon may not practice law while on inactive status. He may return to the practice of law after reinstatement by the Tennessee Supreme Court after showing that his disability has been removed.