{¶ 13} The board also considered several cases in which we imposed six-month conditionally stayed suspensions on attorneys who had engaged in misconduct comparable to-but more egregious than-Schriver's. For example, in Columbus Bar Assn. v. Kluesener, 150 Ohio St.3d 322, 2017-Ohio-4417, 81 N.E.3d 457, we imposed a six-month stayed suspension on an attorney who had failed to act with reasonable diligence, had intentionally failed to comply with legally proper discovery requests, had failed to provide competent representation to a client, and had failed to keep his client reasonably informed about the status of the matter. But Kluesener's misconduct was more egregious than Schriver's because the combination of Kluesener's failures resulted in the dismissal of his client's case with prejudice and Kluesener had failed to inform the client that his conduct could provide a cause of action for legal malpractice.
{¶ 43} And his misconduct here is similar to the misconduct this court found in Columbus Bar Assn. v. Kluesener, 150 Ohio St.3d 322, 2017-Ohio-4417, 81 N.E.3d 457. In Kluesener, this court imposed a fully stayed suspension on an attorney who failed to keep his client reasonably informed and failed to comply with discovery requests and orders, which contributed to the trial court's dismissal of the client's lawsuit with prejudice.
In June 2017, we imposed a conditionally stayed six-month suspension on Kluesener for neglecting and failing to provide competent representation in a client's product-liability case. Columbus Bar Assn. v. Kluesener , 150 Ohio St.3d 322, 2017-Ohio-4417, 81 N.E.3d 457. {¶ 3} In December 2018, relator, Columbus Bar Association, separately charged Christensen and Kluesener with professional misconduct for issuing invalid prelawsuit subpoenas as a method of obtaining information during the investigation stage of potential civil actions.
{¶ 11} The panel considered a number of cases in which we sanctioned attorneys for similar rule violations, and it focused on cases in which we either issued a public reprimand or imposed a conditionally stayed six-month suspension for the attorney's misconduct involving incompetent representation and/or neglect of a client. See, e.g.,Mahoning Cty. Bar Assn. v. Mickens , 154 Ohio St.3d 72, 2018-Ohio-2630, 111 N.E.3d 1125 ; Columbus Bar Assn. v. Kluesener , 150 Ohio St.3d 322, 2017-Ohio-4417, 81 N.E.3d 457 ; Disciplinary Counsel v. Peck , 150 Ohio St.3d 130, 2017-Ohio-2961, 79 N.E.3d 545 ; Lorain Cty. Bar Assn. v. Nelson , 144 Ohio St.3d 414, 2015-Ohio-4337, 44 N.E.3d 268. We find Kluesener and Mickens to be most instructive.
The only aggravating factor was Hooks's commission of multiple offenses, and mitigating factors included the absence of prior discipline, the absence of a dishonest or selfish motive, and his acceptance of responsibility for the misconduct.{¶ 12} And in Columbus Bar Assn. v. Kluesener , 150 Ohio St.3d 322, 2017-Ohio-4417, 81 N.E.3d 457, we imposed a six-month suspension, fully stayed on the condition that the attorney engage in no further misconduct, based on the attorney's neglect of a single matter, failure to provide competent representation, failure to keep the client reasonably informed, failure to protect the client's interests on withdrawal from the representation, and intentional failure to comply with legal discovery requests. No aggravating factors were present, but relevant mitigating factors included the absence of prior discipline, the absence of a dishonest or selfish motive, full and free disclosure to the board and a cooperative attitude toward the disciplinary proceedings, evidence of good character and reputation, and the attorney's full acknowledgment of his misconduct.
{¶ 7} The board recommends that we adopt the parties' consent-to-discipline agreement and suspend Mickens from the practice of law for six months, with the entire suspension stayed on the conditions that he make restitution of $800 to Carlton within 60 days of our order, complete six hours of continuing legal education ("CLE") in law-office management, serve one year of monitored probation, and engage in no additional misconduct. In support of its recommendation, the board noted that in Columbus Bar Assn. v. Kluesener , 150 Ohio St.3d 322, 2017-Ohio-4417, 81 N.E.3d 457, we adopted a consent-to-discipline agreement and imposed a conditionally stayed six-month suspension for similar rule violations arising from an attorney's neglect of a matter. We note that in Disciplinary Counsel v. Simon , 146 Ohio St.3d 44, 2016-Ohio-535, 51 N.E.3d 605, we also imposed a conditionally stayed six-month suspension on an attorney with prior discipline who failed to reasonably communicate with two clients, neglected the legal matter of one of those clients, and failed to inform the other client that he did not maintain professional-liability insurance.