TO BE PUBLISHED

Supreme Court of Kentucky

2020-SC-0543-KB

ALECIA LOCOCO MOVANT

V. IN SUPREME COURT

KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION RESPONDENT

OPINION AND ORDER

Alecia Lococo, whose Bar Number is 84175 and Bar Roster Address is 

1001 Whitewood Bend, LaGrange, Kentucky 40031, requests this Court to 

approve her Application for Reinstatement to the Kentucky Bar. We approve 

her application after reviewing the Character and Fitness Committee’s findings 

of her rehabilitated behavior and the Board of Governors’s unanimous vote for 

reinstatement. We find Lococo may be reinstated upon complying with her 

Kentucky Lawyer Assistance Program (KYLAP) Supervision Agreement and the 

provisions of SCR 3.510(4), passing the bar examination, and paying the costs 

in this matter.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This matter involves Alecia Lococo’s Application for Reinstatement that 

came before the Board of Governors in March 2020. Lococo, who was admitted 
2

to the Kentucky bar in 1991, was suspended from the practice of law after two 

disciplinary actions were brought against her. The first action, resulting in 

Lococo’s temporary suspension, was Inquiry Commission v. Lococo, 18 S.W.3d 

341 (Ky. 2000). A probable-cause determination was later made in Kentucky 

Bar Association v. Lococo, 54 S.W.3d 164 (Ky. 2001), that Lococo was negligent 

in maintaining an adequate accounting system for handling client funds and 

that she misappropriated for her own benefit funds held for others. She was 

suspended for three years. 

In 2006, Lococo was suspended again for six months for conduct that 

occurred before the first disciplinary action began. Lococo moved for that 

suspension to run concurrently to the previously imposed three-year 

suspension. The KBA agreed, and this Court sustained that agreement. 

In October 2017, Lococo filed her application for reinstatement under 

Kentucky Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 3.510. In December 2017 she filed her 

Questionnaire Response with the Character and Fitness Committee. KBA Bar 

Counsel and Committee held a reinstatement hearing in October 2019.

At the hearing, Lococo submitted the affidavits of Dr. Stephen Lamb, her 

psychiatrist, and Phil Wicker, an attorney. The affidavits established that at 

the time of Lococo’s professional misconduct she was suffering from 

undiagnosed Adult Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The 

affidavits also established that after she was suspended she sought medical 

treatment and has been compliant with all treatment recommendations for 17 

years. In sum, the Character and Fitness Committee found Lococo had 
3

satisfied all requirements for reinstatement, including compliance with all 

terms of her suspension; that while under suspension she showed she is 

worthy of the trust and confidence of the public; that she has sufficient 

professional capabilities to serve the public as a lawyer; she exhibits good 

moral character; she appreciates the wrongfulness of her misconduct; she has 

manifested remorse for her professional misconduct; and she has rehabilitated 

herself from her past mistakes. Additionally, the KBA Bar Counsel agreed to 

Lococo’s reinstatement subject to her having a mentor, given the length of time 

she had been suspended. 

After reviewing the Character and Fitness Committee’s findings, as well 

as the record of Lococo’s disciplinary actions, the Board of Governors 

recommended her reinstatement application be approved. It additionally 

recommended KYLAP monitoring and mentoring, all the requirements under

SCR 3.510(4),

1 completion of the bar exam, and payment of costs in this 

matter. We adopt the Board of Governors’ recommendation.

We have approved reinstatement applications like Lococo’s before. In 

Gabbard v. Kentucky Bar Association,

2 an attorney was suspended for one year 

because of his failure to adequately represent two clients. Gabbard had

accepted payments from two different clients but did not complete the work

and did not return the fees.3 When the period of his suspension ended, the 

 

1 Kentucky Supreme Court Rule. 

2 291 S.W.3d 221 (Ky. 2009).

3 Id. at 221.
4

Character and Fitness Committee recommended a five-year supervision under 

KYLAP.4 The Board of Governors voted unanimously to reinstate Gabbard after 

finding his actions reflected the rehabilitation of his behavior.

5 After 

considering the Character and Fitness Committee’s findings and the Board’s 

recommendations, we accepted Gabbard’s application for reinstatement. 

While Lococo’s suspension was for three-and-a-half years, unlike the 

one-year suspension discussed in Gabbard, we have approved of reinstatement 

for similar terms of suspension. In Huffman v. Kentucky Bar Association,

6 an 

attorney received a four-year suspension after she was found guilty of engaging 

in illegal conduct involving moral turpitude; conduct involving dishonesty, 

fraud, deceit or misrepresentation; and conduct which adversely reflected upon 

her fitness to practice law.7 Huffman’s ethical violations stemmed from her 

participation in a monetary kickback scheme to assist an elected official fund a 

campaign.8 This Court approved Huffman’s application after the Board voted 

unanimously for reinstatement because she demonstrated rehabilitated 

behavior and had completed all necessary administrative steps.9

We find the circumstances here to be like those in Gabbard and 

Huffman. Lococo was suspended for 3.5 years after two disciplinary actions 

 

4 Id. at 221–22.

5 Id. at 222.

6 14 S.W.3d 555, 556 (Ky. 2000).

7 Id.

8 Id.

9 Id.
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were brought against her. Since then, she has been rehabilitated and 

completed all terms necessary for reinstatement. And the Board of Governors, 

Kentucky Bar Counsel, and the Character and Fitness Committee endorse 

reinstatement. For these reasons, we grant Lococo’s reinstatement provided 

she pay all costs related to this action and comply with the conditions of 

reinstatement.

It is hereby ORDERED that:

1. Alecia Lococo’s application for reinstatement to the practice of law in

the Commonwealth of Kentucky under SCR 3.510(3) and SCR

3.510(6) is granted upon the conditions that she adhere to the

provisions set forth in her KYLAP Supervision Agreement, the

provisions of SCR 3.510(4), and that she pass the bar examination.

2. Under SCR 3.510(1), Lococo is directed to pay the costs associated

with these proceedings in the amount of $1,179.17, for which

execution may issue from the Court upon finality of this Opinion and

Order.

All sitting. All concur. 

ENTERED: APRIL 29, 2021

______________________________________

CHIEF JUSTICE