Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association v. Lemieux

2014 Ohio 2127, 11 N.E.3d 1157, 139 Ohio St. 3d 320
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedMay 27, 2014
Docket2013-1246
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 2014 Ohio 2127 (Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association v. Lemieux) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association v. Lemieux, 2014 Ohio 2127, 11 N.E.3d 1157, 139 Ohio St. 3d 320 (Ohio 2014).

Opinion

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Respondent, John Louis Lemieux of Gates Mills, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0073494, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 2001. In October 2011, a probable-cause panel of the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline certified a four-count complaint 1 filed by relator, Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, against Lemieux. The complaint alleged that while abusing drugs and alcohol, Lemieux had accepted payment from four clients and then failed to perform their legal work, failed to reasonably communicate with them, and failed to cooperate in the resulting disciplinary investigations.

{¶ 2} In December 2011, we granted relator’s motion for an interim remedial suspension, finding that Lemieux had engaged in conduct that violates the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct and posed a substantial threat of serious harm to the public. 130 Ohio St.3d 1501, 2011-Ohio-6674, 958 N.E.2d 962.

{¶ 3} Relator amended its complaint in June 2012, adding two counts: one alleging that Lemieux had engaged in misconduct with respect to an additional client and a second alleging that he had failed to deposit unearned payments from clients into a client trust account.

{¶ 4} The parties submitted numerous exhibits and stipulated to many facts, and Lemieux admitted some of the alleged rule violations with respect to Counts One through Four and Count Six of the amended complaint. At the January 2013 hearing, the panel heard testimony from Lemieux, three of the grievants, and two physicians trained in addiction medicine, one of whom is Lemieux’s treating physician.

{¶ 5} The panel made findings of fact and determined that Lemieux committed the conduct charged in Counts One through Four and Count Six but unanimously voted to dismiss Count Five based on the insufficiency of the evidence. 2 After *322 considering the applicable aggravating and mitigating factors and the sanctions we have imposed for comparable misconduct, the panel recommended that we impose an indefinite suspension with conditions for reinstatement, which it asserts will adequately protect the public from future misconduct without eroding Lemieux’s commitment to recovery. The board adopted the panel’s findings of fact and misconduct and its recommended sanction. Neither party filed objections to the board’s report.

{¶ 6} We adopt the board’s findings of fact and misconduct and indefinitely suspend Lemieux from the practice of law in Ohio.

Misconduct

{¶ 7} Lemieux abused drugs and alcohol for years, and he first entered into a contract with the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program (“OLAP”) in late 2001 or early 2002, though he rarely complied with it. He entered into a detoxification program in 2009 and signed a new three-year chemical-dependency contract with OLAP in June 2009.

{¶ 8} In the spring of 2010, near the time that the misconduct at issue in this case began, he entered another detoxification program. And in the summer of that year, he entered a 30-day inpatient-treatment program and signed another three-year OLAP contract. He entered another inpatient rehabilitation program in January 2011.

{¶ 9} The Cuyahoga County Probate Court declared Lemieux legally incompetent and appointed a legal guardian to handle his affairs in February 2011. The court terminated the guardianship in April 2011, following his release from inpatient treatment. Despite his extensive treatment, Lemieux has suffered multiple relapses, including an overdose in May 2011 and a failed drug screen in October 2011.

Count One — The Hubbard Matter

{¶ 10} Michael Hubbard was arrested on September 7, 2010, and charged with a felony. After obtaining docket information from the Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts, Lemieux sent Hubbard a solicitation letter in which he referred to his solo practice as a firm with multiple skilled and experienced attorneys.

*323 {¶ 11} Hubbard’s mother retained Lemieux on September 14, 2010, and paid $1,000 of his quoted fee of $2,500. She paid the remaining $1,500 approximately six weeks later. Hubbard remained incarcerated throughout the representation.

{¶ 12} Lemieux appeared at Hubbard’s arraignment and several pretrial hearings, but requested a continuance at each pretrial to conduct further discovery. He missed the final pretrial, scheduled for November 4, 2010, but the court granted Hubbard’s request to reschedule it for the following day. Lemieux attended the rescheduled pretrial, but obtained a continuance so that Hubbard could undergo a competency evaluation.

{¶ 13} Hubbard’s mother testified that during one of her meetings with Lemieux at his office, he had spoken with slurred speech and walked off balance and she had advised him to go home. She also testified that he had not returned her phone calls on several occasions. The court permitted Lemieux to withdraw from Hubbard’s case on December 7, 2010, and appointed another attorney to complete the representation.

{¶ 14} Lemieux stipulated that Hubbard had requested a refund of her $2,500 payment and that he had not refunded any portion of her fees. He admits that the fees should be returned. He also stipulates that he failed to respond to a certified letter from relator inquiring about Hubbard’s grievance.

{¶ 15} The board found that this conduct violated Prof.Cond.R. 1.2(a) (requiring a lawyer to abide by a client’s decisions concerning the objectives of representation and to consult with the client as to the means by which they are to be pursued), 1.3 (requiring a lawyer to act with reasonable diligence in representing a client), 1.4(a)(2) (requiring a lawyer to reasonably consult with his client about the means by which the client’s objectives are to be accomplished), 1.4(a)(3) (requiring a lawyer to keep his client reasonably informed about the status of a matter), 1.4(a)(4) (requiring a lawyer to comply as soon as practicable with reasonable requests for information from his client), 1.4(b) (requiring a lawyer to explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation), 1.5(a) (prohibiting a lawyer from making an agreement for, charging, or collecting an illegal or clearly excessive fee), 7.1 (prohibiting a lawyer from making or using false, misleading, or nonverifiable communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services), 8.1(b) (prohibiting a lawyer from knowingly failing to respond to a demand for information by a disciplinary authority during an investigation), 8.4(d) (prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice), and 8.4(h) (prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct that adversely reflects on the lawyer’s fitness to practice law) and Gov.Bar R. V(4)(G) (prohibiting a lawyer from neglecting or refusing to assist in a disciplinary investigation). We adopt these findings of fact and misconduct.

*324 Count Two — The Heise and Giguere Matters

{¶ 16} Sashewa Giguere was arrested in March 2010 in connection with the alleged abuse of one of her children by someone Giguere knew.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Disciplinary Counsel v. Tinch (Slip Opinion)
2020 Ohio 2991 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2020)
State v. Finley
2019 Ohio 3891 (Ohio Court of Appeals, 2019)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Deters.
2018 Ohio 5025 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2018)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Maney.
2017 Ohio 8799 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2017)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Rammelsberg
38 N.E.3d 856 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2015)
Disciplinary Counsel v. Hale
2014 Ohio 5053 (Ohio Supreme Court, 2014)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2014 Ohio 2127, 11 N.E.3d 1157, 139 Ohio St. 3d 320, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cleveland-metropolitan-bar-association-v-lemieux-ohio-2014.