Knox County lawyer Keith Allen Pope was temporarily suspended from the practice of law today in Tennessee. The court took the action upon finding that Pope is substantially non-compliant with a Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program and poses a threat of substantial harm to the public. Pope is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by Oct. 12. After that date, Pope shall not use any indicia of lawyer, legal assistant or law clerk nor maintain a presence wherein the practice of law is conducted. The court allowed the Board of Professional Responsibility to file exhibits in the case under seal. The court said the documents contained personal healthcare information, which is confidential and not public record.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended Shelby County lawyer Brian Chadwick Rickman from the practice of law for five years, with two years to be served on active suspension and three years on probation. The court took the action based on six disciplinary complaints, including that Rickman failed to ensure the safekeeping of client funds, protect clients against misconduct by his supervising employer, and report supervisors’ misconduct to the court or the Board of Professional Responsibility. He also failed to comply with court orders directing the disbursement of client funds, comply with requests for information from the board and notify the court and opposing counsel of his suspension. Rickman agreed to a conditional guilty plea acknowledging his conduct violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.2, 1.15, 3.4, 5.1, 8.1(b), 8.3 and 8.4(d) and (g).

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated two lawyers on Friday and one lawyer today who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements. View the Sept. 8 order and the Sept. 11 order to see two reinstated after meeting requirements for 2022, and the Sept. 8 order for one meeting requirements for 2021.

The Supreme Court of Tennessee temporarily suspended Joseph Houston Crabtree Jr., from the practice of law today finding that Crabtree failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a complaint of misconduct. Section 12.3 of Supreme Court Rule 9 provides for the immediate temporary suspension of an attorney’s license to practice law in cases of an attorney’s failure to respond to a complaint of misconduct. Crabtree previously was suspended on Nov. 22, 2022, for a period of three years, with one year served on active suspension and the remaining two years on probation. That suspension remains in effect.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated two lawyers yesterday and one lawyer today who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements in 2022. View the Sept. 6 order, the Sept. 7 order or see the list of all those reinstated online.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated three lawyers on Friday and two lawyers today who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements in 2022. View the Sept. 1 order, the Sept. 5 order or see the list of all those reinstated online.

The Tennessee Supreme Court reinstated three lawyers yesterday and three lawyers today who had been suspended for failing to complete annual continuing legal education requirements in 2022. View the Aug. 30 order, the Aug. 31 order or see the list of all those reinstated online.

The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended 18 attorneys on Monday 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 2023 or access all administrative suspensions dating back to 2005.

The Tennessee Supreme Court issued an order yesterday conditioning reinstatement of Rhea County lawyer Lee R. Thurman on completion of required CLE hours. Thurman filed a petition on Aug. 23 seeking reinstatement of his law license. The Board of Professional Responsibility reported it was not opposed to reinstatement but the Tennessee Commission on Continuing Legal Education reported that Thurman was not compliant with CLE requirements. The court gave Thurman until Oct. 12 to satisfy those obligations or said it would dismiss his petition.

Two lawyers recently were reinstated to the practice of law in Tennessee after being on inactive status. They are: Montgomery County lawyer Dillon E. Barker and Shelby County lawyer Zipporah Williams. Read about their specific cases in the Tennessee Supreme Court orders linked above.