The law license of Akron attorney  Jeffrey A. Carr has been suspended indefinitely  for multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct arising from his representation of a couple who were the subjects of a federal tax lawsuit. 

In a 7-0 per curiam decision announced today, the Supreme Court of Ohio adopted findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline that, despite billing his clients for more than $70,000 in legal fees, Carr submitted only an eight-page brief with no supporting evidence or documents  in response to a government motion for summary judgment in the case.  The trial court awarded summary judgment in the amount of  $520,810 against Carr’s clients, and ordered that tax liens against their home be  foreclosed.  The board also found that Carr falsely represented to the Akron Bar Association that he had remitted 15 percent of the fees he collected in the case to the association’s lawyer referral service, when in fact he had paid only $1,430 of the $9,748 that was actually owed.

The court agreed with the disciplinary board’s conclusions that, among other rule violations, Carr failed to provide his clients with competent representation, charged  a clearly excessive fee, engaged in conduct involving fraud, deceit, dishonesty  or misrepresentation, knowingly made a false statement of material fact or law, and engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.

In imposing an indefinite license suspension as the appropriate penalty for this misconduct, the court noted the aggravating factors that Carr was sanctioned in 2012 for prior acts of misconduct, acted with a dishonest or selfish motive, failed to cooperate in the prosecution of his violations, engaged in deceptive practices during  the disciplinary process, and refused to acknowledge the wrongful nature of his conduct.

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2012-1699. Akron Bar Assn. v. Carr, Slip Opinion No. 2013-Ohio-1485.
On Certified Report by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, No. 11-101.  Jeffrey Alan Carr, Attorney Registration No. 0081745, is indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in Ohio.
O’Connor, C.J., and Pfeifer, O’Donnell, Lanzinger, Kennedy, French, and O’Neill, JJ., concur.
Opinion: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2013/2013-Ohio-1485.pdf

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