The Ohio Supreme Court today suspended the law license of a West Chester attorney charged with 32 violations of the rules governing the conduct of Ohio lawyers.

In a unanimous per curiam decision, the Supreme Court suspended Jesse Jackson Jr., noting that most of the misconduct occurred about a year after he was admitted to practice in 2010.

Prior to joining Caparella-Kraemer & Associates, L.L.C., in May 2011, Jackson had a solo practice with offices in Fairfield and Lebanon. After he was hired by the firm to handle bankruptcy and probate matters, Jackson agreed to close his two other offices and to split equally with the firm all fees for work he performed. Five months after joining the practice, the firm discovered Jackson had not closed his offices and was not sharing fees for court-appointed work and other work he performed.

Criminal charges were brought against Jackson for not sharing the fees, and he was found guilty of petty theft, a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to three years of community control and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and $250 in restitution to the law firm. While the firm was investigating the unshared fees, it determined Jackson failed to competently complete work in a number of cases. He was also charged with engaging in a sexual relationship with a client and attempting to initiate a sexual relationship with another client.

Jackson entered into a consent to discipline agreement with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, and he agreed to most of the facts that led to the disciplinary charges. When considering the appropriate sanction for his misconduct, Jackson and disciplinary counsel agreed that Jackson eventually cooperated fully in the investigation of him, he had no prior disciplinary record, and he acknowledged his actions were improper. The parties also noted that Jackson acted with a dishonest and selfish motive and failed to pay restitution. The parties then agreed, and the Board of Professional Conduct recommended to the Court, that the appropriate sanction for Jackson’s misconduct was a two-year suspension from the practice of law with reinstatement subject to conditions.

The Court suspended Jackson for two years, with his reinstatement conditioned on paying $5,700 in restitution to Caparella-Kraemer and paying about $9,600 to two clients. If reinstated, Jackson will serve two years of monitored probation.

2015-1004. Disciplinary Counsel v. Jackson, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-1599.

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