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Mahoning County Bar Association v. Lavelle11/23/2005
9 (holding that an attorney's failure to supervise his secretary who misappropriated client funds over a ten-year period warranted a six-month suspension). More recent decisions from this and other courts have similarly admonished lawyers for failing to supervise non-lawyer assistants with care. See, e.g., Lorain Cty. Bar Assn. v. Noll, 105 Ohio St.3d 6, 2004-Ohio-7013, 821 N.E.2d 988 (imposing a two-year suspension, with 18 months stayed, on a lawyer who failed to adequately supervise a legal assistant and committed other violations); People v. Smith (Colo. Office of Presiding Disciplinary Judge, 2003), 74 P.3d 566 (imposing a nine-month suspension on a lawyer whose legal assistant communicated false information to clients, notarized documents outside the presence of the signer, and failed to inform the attorney of attempts to contact him); In re Faucheux (La.2002), 818 So.2d 734 (imposing a one-year supervised probationary period on a lawyer who failed to supervise a non-lawyer employee, resulting in the forgery of a client's name on a settlement document).
{ } Respondent's conduct fell below the standards described in the Restatement and in ABA Model Rule 5.3. He at best chose to remain oblivious to the improper actions of the persons he hired, thereby violating the trust that his clients and others placed in him and his office staff. We find that Disciplinary Counsel proved by clear and convincing evidence that respondent, in connection with the Cupp matter, violated DR 1-102(A)(5) (barring conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice) and 1-102(A)(6) (prohibiting conduct that adversely reflects on a lawyer's fitness to practice law).
Sanction
{ } A more severe penalty than the one recommended by the board is warranted for respondent's misconduct. Accordingly, respondent is hereby suspended from the practice of law in Ohio for a period of 18 months, with 12 months of the suspension stayed on the condition that a monitor be appointed for respondent by the bar association and that respondent fully comply with any terms imposed by the monitor during the stayed portion of the suspension. If respondent fails to comply with the terms imposed by a monitor, the stay will be lifted and respondent will serve the entire term of actual suspension. Costs are taxed to respondent.
Judgment accordingly.
MOYER, C.J., RESNICK, PFEIFER, LUNDBERG STRATTON, O'CONNOR, O'DONNELL and LANZINGER, JJ., concur.
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