In re Reinstatement of Hodges

19 So. 3d 656, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 140, 2009 WL 943732
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedApril 9, 2009
DocketNo. 2008-BR-01200-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 19 So. 3d 656 (In re Reinstatement of Hodges) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Reinstatement of Hodges, 19 So. 3d 656, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 140, 2009 WL 943732 (Mich. 2009).

Opinion

LAMAR, Justice,

for the Court.

¶ 1. Warner Hodges, III, was suspended from the practice of law in Tennessee for one year, commencing October 1, 2004. Upon complaint from the Mississippi Bar and pursuant to Rule 13 of the Mississippi Rules of Discipline, this Court suspended Hodges’s license to practice law in Mississippi for one year.1 Miss. Bar v. Hodges, 949 So.2d 683 (Miss.2006). Hodges now petitions this Court for reinstatement in good standing, noting that such good standing is a requirement to be admitted to the Bar in Georgia, where Hodges has lived for more than three years.

FACTS

¶ 2. On April 7, 2003, Hodges entered into a monitoring agreement with the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP) because of excessive alcohol abuse. In 2004, Hodges violated the agreement by consuming alcohol, and as a result, was referred to rehabilitation centers on two separate occasions. After he relapsed at the first center and then left the second center before concluding treatment, the Supreme Court of Tennessee temporarily suspended Hodges on October 1, 2004, due to his noncompliance with the monitoring agreement.

¶ 3. On July 11, 2005, Hodges was suspended by the Supreme Court of Tennessee for one year, after entering a conditional guilty plea and admitting violations of the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct (TRPC) for engaging in the practice of law while temporarily suspended. Hodges was found to have violated Rules 5.5(a) and 8.4(a)(c)(d)(g) of the TRPC. The order of suspension provided that Hodges was to continue in the monitoring agreement with TLAP for five years, with any reported noncompliance constituting immediate grounds for summary suspension.

[658]*658¶ 4. Pursuant to Rule 13 of the Mississippi Rules of Discipline (MRD), which provides for reciprocal discipline, and upon complaint from the Mississippi Bar, this Court suspended Hodges for one year. The decision also gave Hodges explicit directions:

(2) Hodges shall continue to comply with his monitoring agreement with TLAP for the period of time remaining on the five year commitment required by the Tennessee order and shall provide this Court with confirmation of compliance on an annual basis.
(3) Hodges shall, within 1⅛ days of the date of this opinion, file an Affidavit with this court stating either that he has not practiced law in the State of Mississippi since July 11, 2005, and thus no notices are required, or that he has given [notice of his suspension to clients and all affected courts and agents required by MRD 11(c) ].

Hodges, 949 So.2d at 688 (emphasis added). In that opinion, this Court further stated:

Should Hodges seek reinstatement to the practice of law in the State of Mississippi, he shall be required not only to comply with all the requirements of MRD Rule 12, but also to present proof to the Mississippi Bar that he has completed, or is continuing in compliance with, the conditions of his TLAP monitoring agreement, as required by the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Id at 688.

¶ 5. The Supreme Court of Tennessee reinstated Hodges on June 6, 2008, with two conditions: (1) that Hodges maintain compliance with the TLAP agreement through May 17, 20102, and (2) that Hodges maintain involvement with the Georgia Lawyers’ Assistance Program (GaLAP).

¶ 6. On June 11, 2008, Hodges petitioned this Court for reinstatement of active status as a practitioner of law in Mississippi. Subsequently, the Mississippi Bar Association deposed Hodges. Following his deposition, Hodges filed a supplemental petition, attaching letters in support of his reinstatement. Hodges later filed a second supplemental petition, addressing the allegations of unauthorized practice of law that brought about his suspension in Tennessee. The Mississippi Bar filed an answer to Hodges’s petition, recommending reinstatement. Subsequently, this Court directed Hodges to supplement the record with the results of Hodges’s monthly drug and alcohol screening required by his TLAP monitoring agreement. Hodges provided the test results to this Court, and the Mississippi Bar filed a response.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 7. This Court enjoys “exclusive and inherent jurisdiction of matters pertaining to attorney discipline, reinstatement, and appointment of receivers for suspended and disbarred attorneys.” In re Morrison, 819 So.2d 1181, 1183 (Miss.2001). This Court reviews the evidence in disciplinary matters as the trier of fact, under a de novo standard. Id.

ANALYSIS

¶ 8. When an attorney is suspended due to misconduct in another jurisdiction, this Court views that suspension as “conclusive evidence of the guilt of the offense or unprofessional conduct on which said sanction was ordered.” MRD 13. The rules, however, do not provide that rein[659]*659statement in another jurisdiction is viewed as conclusive evidence of the rehabilitation of the attorney. In considering whether to grant reinstatement, “the Court’s fundamental inquiry is whether [the attorney] has rehabilitated himself in conduct and character since the suspension was imposed.” In re Steele, 722 So.2d 662, 664 (Miss.1998) (citing In re Mathes, 653 So.2d 928, 929 (Miss.1995)).

I. Hodges’s Noncompliance with the Suspension Order.

f 9. In the suspension order, this Court required that Hodges continue to comply with his TLAP monitoring agreement for the remainder of the five-year commitment required by Tennessee. The order further stated that Hodges was to “provide this Court with confirmation of compliance on an annual basis.” Hodges, 949 So.2d at 688.

¶ 10. While Hodges continued to comply with the TLAP monitoring agreement, he failed to provide annual confirmation of compliance to this Court. During his deposition testimony, Hodges admitted that he had failed to provide this Court with annual compliance confirmation. Hodges’s excuse for disobeying this Court’s order was that he was “so devastated” when the order was issued, he didn’t even read the annual confirmation requirement. Hodges further testified that he had no knowledge of the requirement until he called the Mississippi Bar inquiring about filing a petition for reinstatement.

¶ 11. In his petition for reinstatement, Hodges provided an affidavit stating that he was in full compliance with the monitoring agreement. Additionally, Hodges provided a letter from Laura Gatrell, TLAP Executive Director, which stated that Hodges’s TLAP file was in substantial compliance at the time. The letter further stated that TLAP supported Hodges’s petition for reinstatement in Tennessee and similarly supported his petition for reinstatement in Mississippi. In response to this Court’s directive to supplement his petition, Hodges has provided this Court with the results of his monthly drug and alcohol screening tests as required by the monitoring agreement.

¶ 12. This Court’s suspension order also required that Hodges, within fourteen days of the issuance of the order, file an affidavit stating either that he had not practiced law in Mississippi since July 11, 2005, or that he had given notice to clients, courts, and agencies pursuant to Mississippi Rules of Discipline 11.

¶ 13. Hodges filed no such affidavit after the suspension order.

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Bluebook (online)
19 So. 3d 656, 2009 Miss. LEXIS 140, 2009 WL 943732, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-reinstatement-of-hodges-miss-2009.