Arkansas lawyer Kimberly Ogden Sutton was disbarred from practicing law in Tennessee on Monday. She consented to the action, according to the Tennessee Supreme Court, because she could not “successfully defend herself against charges” pending against her. Under new rules, she is permanently disbarred and cannot apply for reinstatement.

On Sept. 11, the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended 12 attorneys for failure to pay the annual registration fee and two lawyers for failure to pay the annual registration fee and submit certification that all eligible funds are held in an IOLTA account. See the full list of those suspended and reinstated for fee and IOLTA violations in 2020. See all administrative suspensions lists dating back to 2005.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today permanently disbarred Arkansas attorney Kimberly Ogden Sutton from the practice of law in Tennessee. She consented to disbarment because, according to the court, she could not successfully defend herself against complaints filed against her. Sutton represented six clients in immigration related matters. The court found that she was paid to provide legal services but failed to complete those services, collected fees that were not yet earned, and effectively terminated representation without notifying the clients or returning files or unearned fees. Sutton was earlier suspended for not responding to the complaints and failed to comply with the notification requirements of suspended attorneys. Her conduct was determined to violate Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.15, 1.16, 3.4(c), 8.1 and 8.4(a) and (d).

The Tennessee Supreme Court today temporarily suspended Rutherford County attorney David Brent Whelan from the practice of law. Whelan failed to respond to the Board of Professional Responsibility regarding a complaint of misconduct and posing a risk of substantial harm to the public. Whelan is immediately precluded from accepting any new cases and must cease representing existing clients by Oct. 10. Whelan shall not engage in the practice of law or use any indicia of lawyer, legal assistant or law clerk nor maintain a presence where the practice of law is conducted. The suspension remains in effect until Whelan for good cause requests dissolution of the suspension by petition to the Supreme Court.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today entered an order permanently disbarring Jacki “Jack” L. Garton from practicing law in Tennessee. Garton, a Dickson County lawyer, was trustee for a trust set up to provide for the daughter of state trooper Todd Larkins, who was killed by a tractor-trailer truck in 2005. The trust contained over $2 million from the settlement of a wrongful death lawsuit. Garton began quietly disbursing trust monies to himself in the form excessive fees, ultimately misappropriating more than $1 million from the trust. In 2019, Garton was convicted of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and tax fraud and the Tennessee Supreme Court suspended his law license. The Board of Professional Responsibility later recommended disbarring Garton. The high court agreed and today disbarred Garton. Under a new rule, attorneys disbarred on or after July 1 of this year are not eligible for reinstatement and are “permanently” disbarred. They cannot ask the court to reinstate their license and will never again practice law in the state. Read more on the Administrative Office of the Courts website.

The law license of Shelby County lawyer Nicholas Freeman Tominello was transferred to disability inactive status today. Tominello may not practice law while on inactive status but may petition for reinstatement after showing by clear and convincing evidence that the disability has been removed, and he is fit to resume the practice of law.

The Tennessee Supreme Court announced today it has received information about disciplinary action taken against lawyer James Austin Dukes in Louisiana. The court directed Dukes to inform it within 30 days why reciprocal discipline of permanent disbarment should not be imposed in Tennessee. If Dukes does not respond, Supreme Court rules allow the court to impose discipline with the same terms and conditions as those imposed by the Supreme Court of the State of Louisiana.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended Morgan County lawyer Andrew Nathan Hall from the practice of law after finding he failed to respond to a complaint of misconduct. Supreme Court Rule 9 provides for the immediate summary suspension of an attorney’s license to practice law if an attorney fails to respond to a complaint of misconduct. He must immediately cease accepting new cases and stop representing existing clients by Oct. 4.

A number of lawyers were recently reinstated after being suspended for failure to complete required CLE hours in 2019. See the full list of those suspended and reinstated in 2020 for 2019 violations. The TBA also has records of all administrative suspensions and reinstatements going back to 2005. See all lists here.

Davidson County lawyer Kevin William Teets Jr. was reinstated to the practice of law today. He had been suspended in June for 30 days. The Tennessee Supreme Court conditioned reinstatement on Teets’ engagement of a practice monitor for one year. The monitor is required to meet with Teets monthly to assess his case load, timeliness of tasks, adequacy of communication with clients and accounting procedures.