Serial: 231626 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI

No. 2019-BD-00908-SCT

THE MISSISSIPPI BAR

v.

THOMAS W. BELLEPERCHE

ORDER OF DISBARMENT

¶1. The M ississippi Bar, under Rule 13 of the Rules of Discipline f or the Mississippi State
Bar, f iled a f orm al com

p laint against Thom as W

. Bellepe r c h e a f ter the Indiana Suprem e

Court accepted h i s r e s ignation f rom the practice of law a nd barred h im f rom apply ing f

or

readm ission f

o r a p e riod of f

ive y ears. Because B elleperche i s licensed to p ractice in
Mississippi, the Bar is obligated to present a certif ied copy of the judgm e n t to this Court and

to seek reciprocal discipline. The Bar asks t his Court to discipline B elleperche appropriately

and to tax all costs and e xpenses incurred in f iling the f orm al com

plaint to him

. Af

ter due
consideration, we f

ind that Belleperche s hould receive the sam e discipline as m eted out by
the Indiana Suprem e Court.

I.
¶2. Belleperche is a resident of Indiana a n d is also a m em ber of the M ississippi Bar. On
July 22, 2019, a judgm ent was entered against Belleperche in the Allen County Circuit Court

in Allen County , I ndiana. Belleperche p led guilty to v iolating Indiana Code S ection 9-30-5-
3(a)(1), operating a vehicle while intoxicated and having a previous c onviction o f operatingwhile intoxicated within the last seven y ears, a Level 6 f e l o ny

. Ind. Code Ann. § 9-30-5-
3(a)(1) ( W est, W estlaw t hrough 2020 2 d Reg. Sess. of 121st Gen. Assem b ly ). He tendered

h is r esignation to the Indiana Suprem e Court, which accepted it under Indiana Adm i ssio n a n d
Discipline Rule 23(17). The Indiana Suprem e C ourt accepted his resignation and also barred
Belleperche f

rom petitioning f

or reinstatem ent f

or f i ve y ears.

II.
¶3. “This Court possess ‘exclusive a nd inhe r e n t j u r i s d i c t i o n ’ o v e r the discipline of

attorney s under t he Mississippi R ules of Discipline.” Miss. Bar v. Thom as , 2 91 So. 3d 306,

307 (Miss. 2019) ( quoting McIn t y r e v . Miss. B ar , 38 So. 3d 6 17, 623 (Miss. 2010).
Belleperche, a licensed attorney in the s t a t e o f M ississippi, is u nder the disciplinary
jurisdiction of this Court. The Miss i s s i p p i State Bar i s f urther g overned by the Rules of
Discipline. Rule 13 of

these Rules of

Discipline provides,

A f inal adjudication in a nother juris d i c t ion t hat a n attorney adm itted to practice in the State of Mississippi has been guilty of m isconduct shall establish conclusively the m i sconduct f or purposes of a disciplinary proceeding in the State of Mississippi. T h e sole issue to b e determ ined in the disciplinary proceeding in the State of Mississippi shall b e the extent of the f inal d iscipline to be im posed upon the attorney in this S tate, which m ay be m ore or l ess severe than the discipline im posed by the other jurisdiction.
M.R.D. 13. “This Court will not engage in f urther f act f inding when a sanction is im posed
by another jurisdiction.” Thom as , 291 So. 3d at 3 07 (citing Miss. Bar v. Shah , 749 So. 2d
1047, 1049 (Miss. 1999)).
¶4. Under the r eciprocity d o ctrine, this Court will generally im p ose a s anction that closely

m irrors t he s a nction that our s i s t e r s t ates have im posed u nless som e circum stances,

2extraordinary in nature, dictate departing f rom our sister state’s sanction. I d. (quoting Miss.

B a r v . D r u n gole , 913 So. 2d 963, 970 (Miss. 2 005)). W e consider nine criteria when

determ ining reciprocal discipline:
(1) the nature of the m isconduct involved; (2) the need t o d e ter sim i lar

m isconduct; (3) t h e p r eservation of the d ignity and reputation of the prof ession; (4) protection of the public; (5) the san c t i o ns im posed in sim i lar cases; (6) the duty viola t e d ; ( 7 ) the lawy er’s m ental state; ( 8) the a ctual or pot e n tial i njury resulting f rom the m isconduct; and (9) the existence of aggravating and/or m itigating f actors

Id. at 308 (quoting Miss. Bar v. Ogletree , 226 So. 3d 79, 83 (Miss. 2015)). As long as this

Court c onsiders e ach of t hese criteria, n one need to be addressed individually a nd s e parately

.
Id. (quoting Ogletree , 226 So. 3d at 83).
¶5. Belleperche voluntarily resigned f

rom the Indiana Bar due t o his guilty plea, and he

m akes no f

orm al response to the Mississippi Bar’s com p laint.

III.
¶6. The precedent of this Court establishes that disbarm ent a n d a f i v e
- y e a r b a n o n application f

or readm ission f

rom the date of the entry of t his order is an a ppropriate sanction.

This Court hereby d isbars Belleperche a nd r evokes his licen s e t o p ractice bef ore all
Mississippi courts. Belleperche is required to pay all costs associated with t he f il i n g a n d
prosecution of

this com plaint.

IV.
¶7. W E THEREFORE ORDER as f ollows:

1. T hom as W

. Belleperche i s disbarred f rom the practice of law in the Sta t e o f Mississippi, and his nam e shall be im m ediately rem oved f rom the rolls of the Mississippi Bar;

32. The Clerk o f the Suprem e Court of Mississippi (the Clerk) shall im m ediately f orward to the attorney s of r ecord f or each p arty a c opy o f t h i s Order of Disbarm e nt and shall send Belleperche’s c opy by certif ied m ail, return receipt requested;

3. The Clerk s h a l l i mme d i a t e l y f o r w a r d a n a t t e s ted copy o f this Order of Disbarme n t t o the C lerks of the United States D istrict Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Missi s s i p p i, t o the C lerk of the United States Court of Appeals f or the Fif th Circuit, and t o the Clerk of the Suprem e Court of the United States;

4. The Clerk shall im m e d i a t e l y f o r w a r d a n a t t e s t e d c o p y o f this Order of Disbarm e nt to t he judges of t he circuit, chancery , and county co u r t s of the districts where Belleperche r esided and practiced law, with instructions to include a copy

of this judgm e nt upon the m inutes of their respective courts;

5. The Clerk shall f

o rward an attested c opy of this Or d e r o f D i sbarm ent to the Executive Director of

the Mississippi Bar;

6. Belleperche is assessed all costs of th i s d isciplinary proceeding. See M.R.D. 25(a).

7. B e l l e p e r c h e i s h e r e b y e n joined f rom practicing l aw in Mississippi; f rom holding him self out as an attorney at law; f rom perf orm ing any legal service f or others; f

rom accepting any f

ee directly o r indirectly f

or legal services to be perf orm ed f or others; f

rom appearing a s counsel or in any representative capacity in any

proceeding in any

court of the State of

Mississippi, or bef

ore any adm inistrative body or agency thereof ; f r om holding him self out to others

as o r using his n am e in any m anner in c onjunction w i th the phrases “attorney at law,” “attorney ,” “counselor at law,” “counselor,” or “lawy er, ” f or the period of his disbarm ent until such tim e as h e is reins t a ted to the p ractice of law in this State by

the Suprem e Court of

Mississippi;

8. Wi t h i n t e n d a y s of receipt of t his Order of Disbarm e n t , B e l l e p e r c h e s h a l l notif y in writing e a c h of his c lients of his disbarm ent and of his c onsequent inability to a ct a s an attorney a nd shall advise each such client to prom ptly substitute another attorney or attorney s in his place or to seek legal advice elsewhere;

9. Belleperche shall r eturn all f i l e s , p a p e r s , mo n i e s , a n d o t h e r p r o p erties belonging to his clients in his possession, if any such clients request the sam e af ter receiving notif

ication f rom h im

. W ithin t hirty day s of recei p t o f this

4Order of Disbarm e nt, Belleperche shall f ile with this Court an Af

f idavit stating that all current clients h ave been notif ied of his disbarm ent and that all f iles, papers, m onies a nd other property b elonging to s u ch c lients have been returned

as ordered herein and showing, in the c ases in which i t was not possible to notif y s uch clients or return their property , that due diligence was used to do so;

10. W ithin te n d a y s o f r e c e i p t o f t h i s O r d e r o f Disbarm ent, Belleperche shall notif y every attorney and adverse party in a ny Mississippi proceeding in which he is involved and all af f ected courts and agencies of his dis b a r me n t a nd consequent inability

to act as an attorney

. SO ORDERED, this the 19th day of May , 2020.

/s/ Michael K. Randolph MICHAEL K. RANDOLPH CHIEF JUSTICE FOR THE COURT

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