[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as 

Disciplinary Counsel v. Warren, Slip Opinion No. 2016-Ohio-7333.] 

NOTICE 

This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in an 

advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested to 

promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 65 

South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other 

formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before 

the opinion is published. 

SLIP OPINION NO. 2016-OHIO-7333

DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL v. WARREN.

[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it 

may be cited as Disciplinary Counsel v. Warren, Slip Opinion No. 

2016-Ohio-7333.] 

Attorneys—Misconduct—Violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct—Twoyear suspension. 

(No. 2016-0251—Submitted March 9, 2016—Decided October 18, 2016.) 

ON CERTIFIED REPORT by the Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme 

Court, No. 2015-035. 

_______________________ 

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Respondent, Kenneth Jay Warren of Dublin, Ohio, Attorney 

Registration No. 0011040, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1977. On 

March 6, 2015, Warren was convicted of a single count of sexual battery in 

violation of R.C. 2907.03. State v. Warren, Franklin C.P. No. 13 CR 12 6766 (Mar. 

6, 2015). Based on that felony conviction, we suspended Warren from the practice 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

2

of law in Ohio on March 26, 2015. In re Warren, 142 Ohio St.3d 1215, 2015-Ohio1129, 29 N.E.3d 983. On May 13, 2015, relator, disciplinary counsel, charged 

Warren with professional misconduct arising from his felony conviction. 

{¶ 2} A panel of the Board of Professional Conduct considered the cause on 

the parties’ consent-to-discipline agreement. See Gov.Bar R. V(16). 

{¶ 3} In the consent-to-discipline agreement, Warren stipulates that on 

August 8, 2013, a friend with whom he had a social—but not sexual—relationship 

joined him for dinner at his home and planned to stay overnight. After dinner, 

Warren’s friend lay down in his room to sleep because she had taken some pain 

medication and was not feeling well. Unaware that she had taken that medication, 

Warren gave her a sleeping pill to help her fall asleep. At some point during the 

night, Warren removed his friend’s pajamas and she awoke to his penetrating her 

vagina with his finger and tongue. She told him to stop and due to the medication 

she had taken, fell back asleep. She is unaware whether any other sexual contact 

occurred. 

{¶ 4} After a jury trial, Warren was found guilty of sexual battery but 

acquitted of rape on October 31, 2014. On March 5, 2015, he was sentenced to 30 

months of community control and was ordered to stay away from the victim, 

complete a sex-offender treatment program, and pay a $2,500 fine plus court costs. 

{¶ 5} The parties stipulate that Warren’s conduct violated Prof.Cond.R. 

8.4(b) (prohibiting a lawyer from committing an illegal act that reflects adversely 

on the lawyer’s honesty or trustworthiness). 

{¶ 6} The parties further stipulate that the applicable mitigating factors 

include the absence of prior discipline during Warren’s 39-year career, his full and 

free disclosure to the board and cooperative attitude toward the proceedings, 

evidence of his good character and reputation apart from the charged misconduct, 

his acknowledgement that his actions were improper, and the imposition of other 

penalties. See Gov.Bar R. V(13)(C)(1), (4), (5), and (6). The parties agree that the 
January Term, 2016 

3

sole aggravating factor is that Warren acted with a dishonest or selfish motive. See

Gov.Bar R. V(13)(B)(2). 

{¶ 7} Based on Warren’s stipulated misconduct and the applicable 

aggravating and mitigating factors, the parties stipulate that the appropriate 

sanction is a two-year suspension from the practice of law, with no portion of the 

suspension stayed. The parties agree that Warren should receive no credit for the 

time served under his interim felony suspension, which commenced on March 26, 

2015. In addition, they stipulate that upon submitting an application for 

reinstatement, Warren shall be required to demonstrate that he has fully complied 

with the terms of his criminal sentence, including all terms of his community 

control. 

{¶ 8} The panel and the board found that the consent-to-discipline 

agreement conforms to Gov.Bar R. V(16) and recommend that we adopt the 

agreement in its entirety. 

{¶ 9} In support of this recommendation, the parties and board noted that 

we have imposed term suspensions on other attorneys who have been convicted of 

felonies. See, e.g., Disciplinary Counsel v. Petroff, 85 Ohio St.3d 396, 709 N.E.2d 

111 (1999) (imposing a one-year suspension on an attorney who was convicted of 

a felony count of attempting to evade federal income taxes that did not arise from 

his representation of clients and who fully cooperated with the disciplinary 

investigation); Disciplinary Counsel v. Pappas, 141 Ohio St.3d 1, 2014-Ohio-3676, 

21 N.E.3d 260 (imposing a two-year suspension on an attorney who was convicted 

of a felony for making false statements to federal authorities and who had also filed 

a false affidavit in court and had made false statements to disciplinary authorities); 

Cleveland Metro. Bar Assn. v. Haynes, 143 Ohio St.3d 528, 2015-Ohio-3706, 39 

N.E.3d 1251 (imposing a two-year suspension with six months stayed on conditions 

for an attorney’s participation in a scheme to defraud retailers that resulted in her 

felony conviction for receiving stolen property). The parties and board also noted 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO

4

that we have indefinitely suspended attorneys who have been convicted of felony 

sex crimes involving children. See, e.g., Disciplinary Counsel v. Goldblatt, 118 

Ohio St.3d 310, 2008-Ohio-2458, 888 N.E.2d 1091 (indefinitely suspending an 

attorney who was convicted of compelling prostitution and possessing criminal 

tools based on his attempt to arrange a sexual encounter with an underage girl); 

Dayton Bar Assn. v. Greenberg, 135 Ohio St.3d 430, 2013-Ohio-1723, 988 N.E.2d 

559 (indefinitely suspending an attorney who pleaded guilty to felony charges of 

possessing child pornography and transferring obscene material to minors). Citing 

the multiple mitigating factors present in this case and noting that Warren’s 

conviction and resulting misconduct arose from an illegal act committed against an 

adult with whom he had a social relationship, the panel concluded that the stipulated 

sanction was just. 

{¶ 10} We agree that Warren’s conduct violated Prof.Cond.R. 8.4(b) and 

that it warrants a full two-year suspension with no credit for the time served under 

his interim felony suspension. Therefore, we adopt the parties’ consent-todiscipline agreement. 

{¶ 11} Accordingly, Kenneth Jay Warren is hereby suspended from the 

practice of law for two years, with no credit for the time served under the interim 

suspension that began on March 26, 2015. Costs are taxed to Warren. 

Judgment accordingly. 

O’CONNOR, C.J., and PFEIFER, LANZINGER, KENNEDY, and FRENCH, JJ., 

concur. 

O’DONNELL, J., dissents and would remand the cause to the Board of 

Professional Conduct to reconsider the sanction to be imposed. 

O’NEILL, J., dissents and would grant respondent credit for time served 

under interim remedial suspension. 

_________________ 
January Term, 2016 

5

Scott J. Drexel, Disciplinary Counsel, and Catherine M. Russo, Assistant 

Disciplinary Counsel, for relator. 

Kegler, Brown, Hill & Ritter, L.P.A., and Christopher J. Weber, for 

respondent. 

_________________