Sevier County lawyer James Ralph Hickman Jr. was reinstated to the practice of law on March 22 with the condition that he engage a practice monitor and continue to comply with the terms and conditions of a judgment entered on June 30, 2023. Last summer, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Hickman for one year, with six months to be served on active suspension. Hickman filed a petition for reinstatement on Feb. 15. The Board of Professional Responsibility reported to the court that the petition was satisfactory.

On March 22, the Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Hawkins County lawyer Terry Risner after finding that he was substantially non-compliant with his Dec. 20, 2023, Tennessee Lawyer Assistance Program Preliminary Evaluation and Assessment Monitoring Agreement. Supreme Court Rule 9 Section 12.3 requires immediate summary suspension of an attorney’s license to practice law when an attorney substantially fails to comply with a TLAP monitoring agreement. The suspension will remain in effect until dissolution or modification by the court. The court also granted a motion to file documents in this case under seal.

Connecticut lawyer Wesley Shelman Spears was suspended for two years, retroactive to Oct. 25, 2023, by the Tennessee Supreme Court on March 22. The court reports that Spears received a two-year suspension from the State of Connecticut Superior Court in the Judicial District of Hartford on Sept. 25, 2023. On Feb. 13, the Tennessee Supreme Court directed Spears to respond as to why the same discipline should not be imposed in the Tennessee. Spears failed to respond.

On March 20, the Tennessee Supreme Court ordered former Nashville attorney Brian Manookian to pay the Board of Professional Responsibility $30,251.50 in costs associated with his disciplinary proceedings. The court had notified Manookian of the assessment, allowing him to contest the amount. It said today that it had not received an objection from him in the time permitted. The court permanently disbarred Manookian on Feb. 16.

Sullivan County lawyer Nicholas C. Cooper was reinstated to the practice of law recently after being on inactive status for more than five years. The Tennessee Supreme Court notes that Cooper was placed on inactive status on May 3, 2011. The Board of Professional Responsibility found the reinstatement petition to be satisfactory and recommended the court approve it. Cooper was reinstated as of March 12.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended Florida lawyer Joy T. Reid from the practice of law in Tennessee for 60 days. The court reports that Reid applied for comity admission to the Tennessee bar, but that during review of her application for admission, the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners discovered that she appeared to be holding herself out as a currently licensed Tennessee attorney. The Tennessee Board of Law Examiners conducted a show cause hearing during which Reid made misstatements of material fact. She agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging her conduct violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 5.5, 7.1 and 8.4(c).

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Feb. 28 issued an order suspending two Tennessee lawyers for failure to comply with CLE requirements. The order supplements an order from Aug. 17, 2023, suspending 143 Tennessee-licensed lawyers for failure to meet CLE requirements in 2022. See the full list of those suspended and reinstated, including one from the Feb. 28 order, who was reinstated last week.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on March 4 suspended 60 attorneys who did not pay the annual professional privilege tax as required. The attorneys include those living in Tennessee as well as 16 other states. View the order or see the list with reinstatements noted.

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently rejected the Board of Professional Responsibility’s recommendation for discipline in the case of Shelby County lawyer Larry E. Fitzgerald. The court said it had concerns that the proposed punishment, particularly the period of active suspension, was too lenient. It rejected Fitzgerald’s conditional guilty plea and referred the matter to the board for further proceedings. Fitzgerald had entered a conditional guilty plea on Oct. 18, 2023, in response to a petition for discipline filed on Dec. 12, 2022.

Fayette County lawyer Lundy Lee Carpenter was reinstated to the practice of law on March 1, effective as of Jan. 31. Carpenter had been placed on inactive status on March 9, 2017. The Board of Professional Responsibility reported that the petition for reinstatement was satisfactory.