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.

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Steven Michael Hodgen from the practice of law on May 31 after finding that he failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility concerning a complaint of misconduct. Hodgen is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by June 30.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has rejected a request for a hearing on a motion to dissolve a temporary suspension. The court said that Knox County lawyer Mark Steven Graham had failed to establish “good cause” warranting a hearing. Graham was reinstated to the practice of law in January 2022 with the condition that he comply with a Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) monitoring agreement. In May 2022, the court temporarily suspend Graham for noncompliance with his agreement. Graham filed a petition to dissolve the suspension and seek a hearing on the motion arguing that the agreement “terminated by its own terms” with the court’s action in January 2022. The court rejected that argument saying it is “belied by the plain language” of its January 2022 order.

Virginia lawyer Atina Rizk Stavropoulos has been reinstated to active practice of law in Tennessee. The Tennessee Supreme Court notes that the Board of Professional Responsibility found the petition for reinstatement to be satisfactory. Stavropoulos was placed on inactive status more than five years ago on Sept. 13, 2013.

The Tennessee Supreme Court on May 21 suspended 23 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee; 11 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.

On May 20, the Tennessee Supreme Court decided not to impose reciprocal discipline on Reagan Michelle Taylor Fondren. It previously had directed Fondren to notify the court why it should not impose the same discipline as that imposed by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In addition to considering Fondren’s response, the court states that an independent investigation was undertaken by the Board of Professional Responsibility, which determined that reciprocal discipline was not appropriate in this circumstance. The court also approved a request to file documents in the case under seal.