Opinion
Supreme Court Case No. 21S-DI-17
11-01-2023
In the MATTER OF: John J. COOMES, Respondent
Published Order Approving Statement of Circumstances and Conditional Agreement for Discipline
Pursuant to Indiana Admission and Discipline Rule 23 (12.1)(b), the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission and Respondent have submitted for approval a "Statement of Circumstances and Conditional Agreement for Discipline" stipulating agreed facts and proposed discipline as summarized below.
Stipulated Facts: Respondent, who is licensed to practice law in Ohio, applied for a provisional license in Indiana in 2018 pursuant to Indiana Admission and Discipline Rule 6(1). In response to a question in the application asking if he had been a named party in any civil actions, Respondent failed to disclose his Ohio marital dissolution case, in which post-dissolution matters were being actively litigated at the time of his application. At a hearing in the Ohio case, Respondent admitted submitting tax returns with inflated income figures in connection with a mortgage refinance application. Because of the omission of the marital dissolution case in Respondent's provisional license application, this information did not come to light until after he was admitted to practice law in Indiana.
To be eligible for a provisional license, the applicant must have been "actively engaged in the practice of law"—meaning, as relevant here, "performing legal services for the general public as a lawyer for at least 1,000 hours per year"—for at least five of the seven years preceding the application. In response to an inquiry from the Board of Law Examiners during the pendency of Respondent's provisional license application, Respondent inaccurately stated he had practiced in excess of 1,000 hours annually since his Ohio bar admission in 2010 and had devoted an average of 30 hours per week to the practice of law.
Violations: The parties agree that Respondent violated these Indiana Professional Conduct Rules prohibiting the following misconduct:
8.1(a): Knowingly making a false statement of material fact to the Board of Law Examiners in connection with a bar admission application.
8.1(b): Failing to disclose a fact necessary to correct a misapprehension known by the person to have arisen in an admissions matter.
Discipline: The parties propose the appropriate discipline is a 45-day suspension with automatic reinstatement. The Court, having considered the submissions of the parties, now approves the agreed discipline.
For Respondent's professional misconduct, the Court suspends Respondent from the practice of law for a period of 45 days, beginning December 12, 2023. Respondent shall not undertake any new legal matters between service of this order and the effective date of the suspension, and Respondent shall fulfill all the duties of a suspended attorney under Admission and Discipline Rule 23(26). At the conclusion of the period of suspension, provided there are no other suspensions then in effect, Respondent shall be automatically reinstated to the practice of law, subject to the conditions of Admission and Discipline Rule 23(18)(a).
The costs of this proceeding are assessed against Respondent. With the acceptance of this agreement, the hearing officer appointed in this case is discharged with the Court's appreciation.
All Justices concur.