Case Title: Dayton Bar Assn. v. Truman

Citation: 1995-Ohio-137

Docket Number: 19951194

State: ohio

Court: Ohio Supreme Court

Date: 1995-10-25T00:00:00Z

Document:
Dayton Bar Association v. Truman. 
[Cite as Dayton Bar Assn. v. Truman ( 1995), _____ Ohio St.3d _____.] 
Attorneys at law -- Misconduct -- One-year suspension with six months period of 
sanction suspended on condition that no disciplinary complaints against 
attorney are certified to Board of Commissioners on Grievances and 
Discipline during the one-year period -- Writing unauthorized checks from 
client’s business account. 
 
(No. 95-1194 -- Submitted July 26, 1995 -- Decided October 25, 1995.) 
 
ON CERTIFIED REPORT by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and 
Discipline of the Supreme Court, No. 94-72. 
 
By a complaint filed on October 17, 1994, relator, Dayton Bar Association, 
charged respondent, Vance Paul Truman of Beaumont, Texas, Attorney 
Registration No. 0061526, with professional misconduct involving, inter alia, DR 
1-102(A)(3) (illegal conduct involving moral turpitude), 1-102(A)(4) conduct 
involving fraud, deceit, dishonesty, or misrepresentation), and 1-102(A)(6) 
(conduct that adversely reflects on fitness to practice law).  A panel of the Board 
of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline of the Supreme Court (“board”) 
heard the matter on March 3, 1995. 
 
The parties admitted the facts underlying the charged misconduct and 
stipulated to respondent’s having violated the cited Disciplinary Rules.  The 
record before the panel established that, in December 1990 and prior to 
respondent’s November 1993 admission to the Ohio Bar, Sheilds Bar-B-Que, a 
Dayton restaurant, engaged respondent as an accounting consultant for its 
business.  The owners of Sheilds Bar-B-Que, the Sheildses, had been in business 
for twenty-four years, but needed help organizing the financial aspects of their 
restaurant operation.  Respondent, who has an undergraduate degree in accounting 
and a Master of Business Administration, reviewed various financial records and 
suggested several accounting systems and procedures, most of which the Shieldses 
refused to follow consistently.  Beginning in January 1992, respondent noticed 
that the Shieldses were failing to make bank deposits and to otherwise account for 
revenue generated by their restaurant.  By July 1992, the Sheildses had completely 
abandoned record keeping, causing respondent to take complete control of the 
restaurant’s financial books. 
 
Beginning in July 1992 and continuing through February 1994, including 
the period after his bar admission, respondent wrote himself checks for at least 
$16,865 in addition to the compensation he and the Sheildses had agreed upon for 
his services.  Respondent admitted that, while he believed he devoted time and 
effort to Sheilds Bar-B-Que beyond what his level of compensation required, he 
was not entitled to the additional funds he paid himself.  Respondent also had no 
explanation for his conduct -- he was otherwise employed and not in financial 
trouble during the period in question.  Moreover, respondent denies having had 
substance abuse or gambling problems. 
 
In February 1994, the Internal Revenue Service seized the Sheildses’ assets 
to recover approximately $50,000 in delinquent taxes.  Respondent realized that 
his conduct would likely be discovered as a result, and, after consulting counsel in 
March 1994, he disclosed his unauthorized payments to relator. 
 
At the time of the panel hearing, respondent had made restitution to the 
Sheildses in the amount of $17,865, paying an additional $1,000 to account for a 
discrepancy between his records of checks written to himself and losses assessed 
by the Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.  Respondent had also 
already completed a diversion program sponsored by the Montgomery County 
Prosecutor’s Office, and he therefore does not expect to be the subject of a 
criminal prosecution.  On his own initiative, respondent stopped practicing law in 
July 1994. 
 
Based on the foregoing, the panel determined that respondent had violated 
DR 1-102(A)(3), (4), and (6).  In recommending a sanction for this misconduct, 
the panel considered the testimony of four character witnesses, each of whom 
attested to respondent’s integrity apart from the events at issue and that his 
misconduct represented a dramatic departure from his lifestyle and values.  The 
panel also considered that (1) respondent’s misconduct did not occur in an 
attorney-client relationship, (2) he had made full restitution, (3) he cooperated 
completely with relator’s investigation, and (4) he expressed genuine remorse for 
his misconduct. 
 
The panel recommended that respondent be suspended from the practice of 
law in Ohio for a period of one year, but that six months of this sanction be 
suspended, apparently on the condition that he commit no further misconduct 
within that year.  The board adopted the panel’s report, including its findings of 
fact, conclusions of law, and recommendation. 
______________ 
 
Mark R. Chilson, for relator. 
 
David C. Greer, for respondent. 
______________ 
 
Per Curiam.  Upon review of the record, we concur in the board’s findings 
of misconduct and its recommendation.  Respondent is therefore suspended from 
the practice of law in Ohio for one year, but six months of the sanction period are 
suspended on the condition that no disciplinary complaints against respondent are 
certified to the board by a probable cause panel during the one-year period.  Costs 
taxed to respondent. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Judgment accordingly. 
 
MOYER, C.J., DOUGLAS, WRIGHT, RESNICK, F.E. SWEENEY and PFEIFER, JJ., 
concur. 
 
COOK, J., dissents. 
 
COOK, J.., dissenting.  I respectfully dissent.  Respondent embezzled over 
$16,000, and only admitted the conduct upon concluding that he would probably 
be caught through the IRS proceedings.  Giving consideration to the mitigating 
factors recited in the majority decision, I nevertheless believe that anything less 
than a full one-year suspension would be an inadequate censure.