The law license of former Cincinnati attorney Curtis D. Britt has been indefinitely suspended  for violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct in  his dealings with more than 20 bankruptcy clients.

In a 7-0 per curiam decision announced today, the Supreme Court of Ohio adopted findings by its Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline that Britt accepted fee advances from those clients but deposited the unearned fees in his office operating account rather than in a client trust account, and spent the clients’ funds on personal and office expenses without performing the legal services for which he had been retained.

The court agreed with the board’s findings that Britt’s actions violated, among others, the state disciplinary rules that prohibit an attorney from neglecting entrusted client legal matters, collecting an illegal or clearly excessive fee, failing to properly supervise a nonlawyer staff member, failing to properly segregate client funds in his possession from his own funds, engaging in dishonesty, deceit, fraud or misrepresentation and engaging in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.

In imposing an indefinite suspension rather than permanent disbarment as the sanction for this misconduct, the court noted the mitigating factors that Britt had served in the U.S. Air Force for 20 years, expressed sincere remorse and  accepted full responsibility for his actions, cooperated with disciplinary authorities, and was making ongoing attempts to make restitution to his clients by paying another attorney to assist those whose cases remain unresolved. As a condition of any future reinstatement of his license, the court ordered Britt to make aggregate payments of $2,000 per month to his former clients until he has made full restitution for their fee advances, complete 12 hours of continuing legal education in law office and trust account management, and serve one year of monitored probation upon his reinstatement to the practice of law in Ohio.

Please note: Opinion summaries are prepared by the Office of Public Information for the general public and news media. Opinion summaries are not prepared for every opinion, but only for noteworthy cases. Opinion summaries are not to be considered as official headnotes or syllabi of court opinions. The full text of this and other court opinions are available online.

2011-2043.  Cincinnati Bar Assn. v. Britt, Slip Opinion No. 2012-Ohio-4541.
On Certified Report by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, No. 10-048.  Curtis D. Britt, Attorney Registration No. 0070966, is indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in Ohio.
O’Connor, C.J., and Pfeifer, Lundberg Stratton, O’Donnell, Lanzinger, Cupp, and McGee Brown, JJ., concur.
Opinion: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2012/2012-Ohio-4541.pdf

View oral argument video of this case.

PDF files may be viewed, printed, and searched using the free Acrobat^® Reader
Acrobat Reader is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.