The Tennessee Supreme Court on Feb. 21 dismissed a petition from Williamson County lawyer Connie Lynn Reguli to dissolve a temporary suspension that had been imposed on Nov. 20, 2023, after the court found that Reguli posed a threat of substantial harm to the public. On Nov. 28, Reguli filed a petition seeking “immediate relief of reversal” of the suspension or, alternatively, an evidentiary hearing. On Nov. 30, the court granted the request for a hearing but dismissed the petition for reversal. On Jan. 23, Reguli filed a proposed order of voluntary nonsuit. The Board of Professional Responsibility objected to the proposed order and recommended the court dismiss the dissolution petition without prejudice. The court adopted the board’s recommendation.

Putnam County lawyer Michael Robert Giaimo received a censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on Feb. 22. The court found that after Giaimo filed lawsuits on behalf of a client, he failed to communicate with the client for more than a year, inform the client that he moved to a different firm, properly serve process on a defendant and correct that mistake before the statute of limitations ran on the claim. His actions were determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1, 1.3, 1.4, 1.16 and 3.2.

On March 4, Davidson County attorney Wesley Jesse Ladner III received a public censure from the Supreme Court of Tennessee and was ordered to pay the costs and fees of the Board of Professional Responsibility. The censure was conditioned on Ladner engaging a practice monitor for two years, contacting the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program and complying with any of its recommendations. Ladner represented a client in a contentious divorce matter. During the course of the domestic litigation, Ladner engaged in abuses of the discovery process, failed to diligently and timely respond to discovery requests, and made factual misstatements to the court and opposing counsel. Ladner executed a conditional guilty plea acknowledging his conduct violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 3.1, 3.3, 3.4, 8.4(c) and (d).

Williamson County lawyer Melissa Ann Baker was reinstated to the active practice of law on Feb. 28 by the Tennessee Supreme Court, conditioned on continuing compliance with the terms and conditions imposed by the court on Feb. 6, 2023. Baker previously was suspended for three years with one year to be served on active suspension. Baker filed a petition for reinstatement on Jan. 12. The board found the petition was satisfactory and submitted an order of reinstatement to the court.

On Feb. 28, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Johnson County attorney Perry Lee Stout from the practice of law until further orders of the court pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 9, Section 22.3. Stout entered a plea of guilty and was adjudged guilty to one felony count of criminal conspiracy to possess Schedule VI-controlled substances and one felony count of money laundering in violation of Tenn. Code. Ann. §§ 39-17-417, 39-12-103 and 39-14-903.

The Supreme Court of Tennessee today suspended Cleveland attorney Kent Thomas Jones from the practice of law for 90 days pursuant to Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 9, § 12.2. The court found that Jones sent threatening and/or derogatory emails to his client and opposing counsel in two separate matters, that he failed to properly maintain client funds in a trust account and failed to satisfy a lien obligation in a timely manner from which his client suffered actual harm. His actions were determined to violate Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.15, 4.4, 8.4(a) and 8.4(d).

Robert. L. Bakeris, a Florida licensed attorney, today received a Public Censure from the Supreme Court of Tennessee and was ordered to pay the costs and fees of the Board of Professional Responsibility. While appearing in a Tennessee matter pro hac vice, Bakeris failed to pay the required registration fees for a two (2) year period. Upon learning of the missed payments, Bakeris made full payment of the unpaid fees and asserted that it was an inadvertent oversight which was confirmed by his office manager in charge of making the payments.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Feb. 23 suspended 24 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 10 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. 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.

The Tennessee Supreme Court last week dismissed a reinstatement petition filed by Shelby County lawyer Teshaun David Moore because the petition was not properly filed. The court noted that attorneys seeking reinstatement from a suspension in excess of one year must file their petitions with the Board of Professional Responsibility, not the court. The justices also point out that reinstatement petitions must be accompanied by a $2,000 advance cost deposit. Moore was suspended for six years on Dec. 11, 2020, with four years to be served on active suspension and the rest on probation subject to conditions.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated the law license of Hamilton County lawyer Jessica Mines Dumitru to active status on Feb. 16, but made the change effective as of Feb. 5. Dumitru was placed on inactive status more than five ago on Nov. 3, 2015.