### IN THE SUPREME COU RT OF TEN NESSEE

AT NASHVILL E

Feb ru ary 2, 2 01 1 S es si on

DAVID A. LUFKIN, SR. v . BOARD OF PROFESSI ONAL

RESPONSI BI LI TY OF THE SUPREME COURT OF TE NNESSEE

D i r e c t A p p e a l f

r o m t h e B o a r d o f P r o f e s s i o n a l R e s p o n s i b i l i t y H e a r i n g P a n e l

N o

. 2 0 0 9

- 1 8 6 5

- 2

- S G ( 2 4 )

- R 3

- B P

N o

. M 2 0 1 0

- 0 0 8 2 7

- S C

- R 3

- B P

- F i l e d : M a r c h 2 2
, 2 0 1 1

A n a t t o r n e y w h o w a s s u s p e n d e d f r o m t h e p r a c t i c e o f

l a w f o r t w o y e a r s a n d a s s e s s e d

c o s t s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e s u s p e n s i o n p r o c e e d i n g s a p p e a l s t o t h i s C o u r t f o r r e l i e f f r o m a l l o r

a p o r t i o n o f

t h e a s s e s s e d c o s t s

. W h i l e t h i s a p p e a l w a s p e n d i n g , t h e a t t o r n e y f i l e d a C h a p t e r
7 b a n k r u p t c y p e t i t i o n , a n d h i s p r e

- b a n k r u p t c y d e b t s w e r e d i s c h a r g e d b y o r d e r e n t e r e d b y t h e
B a n k r u p t c y C o u r t o n D e c e m b e r 1 0

, 2 0 1 0

. W e h o l d t h a t t h e a s s e s s m e n t o f c o s t s o f t h e d i s c i p l i n a r y p r o c e e d i n g w a s a d e b t t h a t w a s d i s c h a r g e d i n t h e a t t o r n e y ’ s b a n k r u p t c y c a s e a n d

i s , t h e r e f o r e , n o l o n g e r d u e a n d o w i n g

. A c c o r d i n g l y , t h e a t t o r n e y ’ s a p p e a l t o t h i s C o u r t i s

m o o t

.

T e n n

. R

. A p p

. P

. 3 D i r e c t A p p e a l ; A p p e a l D i s m i s s e d

S H A R O N G

. L E E

, J

. , d e l i v e r e d t h e o p i n i o n o f t h e C o u r t

, i n w h i c h C O R N E LIA A

. C LA R K

, C

. J

. , J A N IC E M

. H O LD E R

, G A R Y R

. W A D E

, a n d W ILL IA M C

. K O C H

, J J

. , j o i n e d

.

T h o m a s F

. M a b r y , S e y m o u r , T e n n e s s e e , f o r t h e a p p e l l a n t

, D a v i d A

. L u f k i n , S r

.

S a n d y G a r r e t t

, N a s h v i l l e , T e n n e s s e e , f o r t h e a p p e l l e e , B o a r d o f P r o f e s s i o n a l R e s p o n s i b i l i t y

o f t h e S u p r e m e C o u r t o f T e n n e s s e e

.

O P I N I O N

O n D e c e m b e r 1 6

, 1 9 9 9

, t h i s C o u r t g r a n t e d a t t o r n e y D a v i d A

. L u f k i n , S r

. ’ s a p p l i c a t i o n

t o b e p l a c e d o n d i s a b i l i t y i n a c t i v e s t a t u s p u r s u a n t t o T e n n e s s e e S u p r e m e C o u r t R u l e 9

,

s e c t i o n 2 1

. 3

. I n J u l y o f 2 0 0 6

, M r

. L u f k i n w a s r e i n s t a t e d t o a c t i v e s t a t u s

. I n S e p t e m b e r o f 1

Sec ti on 2 1.3 o f Ru le 9 pr ovides in per ti nen t p ar t a s f oll ows: 1 (c ont inu ed.. .)2 0 0 6

, t h e B o a r d o f P r o f e s s i o n a l R e s p o n s i b i l i t y ( “ t h e B o a r d ” ) f i l e d a p e t i t i o n t o t e m p o r a r i l y

s u s p e n d M r

. L u f

k i n f r o m t h e p r a c t i c e o f

l a w p u r s u a n t t o T e n n e s s e e S u p r e m e C o u r t R u l e 9

,

s e c t i o n 4

. 3

. W e g r a n t e d t h i s p e t i t i o n b y o r d e r o f O c t o b e r 1 7

, 2 0 0 6

. I n A p r i l o f 2 0 0 7

, t h e

2

B o a r d f i l e d a n a d d i t i o n a l p e t i t i o n f o r d i s c i p l i n e a g a i n s t M r

. L u f k i n b a s e d o n s e v e n

c o m p l a i n t s

. F o l l o w i n g a h e a r i n g b y t h e B o a r d H e a r i n g P a n e l ( “ t h e P a n e l ” ) i n J u n e o f 2 0 0 9

, t h e P a n e l r e c o m m e n d e d t h a t M r

. L u f k i n b e s u s p e n d e d f

o r t w o y e a r s , r e t r o a c t i v e t o h i s

s u s p e n s i o n o n O c t o b e r 1 7

, 2 0 0 6 ; t h a t h e a t t e n d a s p e c i f i e d a m o u n t o f a d d i t i o n a l c o n t i n u i n g l e g a l e d u c a t i o n w i t h i n t h e n e x t t w o y e a r s ; a n d t h a t h i s p r a c t i c e b e s u b j e c t t o t h e s u p e r v i s i o n

o f a p r a c t i c e m o n i t o r f

o r o n e y e a r s h o u l d h i s l a w l i c e n s e b e r e i n s t a t e d

. T h e r e a f t e r , o n A u g u s t

1 8

, 2 0 0 9

, t h i s C o u r t e n t e r e d a n O r d e r o f E n f o r c e m e n t a c c e p t i n g t h e P a n e l ’ s

r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s a n d a s s e s s i n g M r

. L u f k i n w i t h c o s t s o f t h e s u s p e n s i o n p r o c e e d i n g s i n t h e

a m o u n t o f $ 1 1

, 2 7 7

. 8 8

, p u r s u a n t t o T e n n e s s e e S u p r e m e C o u r t R u l e 9

, s e c t i o n 2 4

. 3

. 3

(... con ti nue d) 1

I f, dur ing the cou rs e of a dis ci pli nar y inves ti gatio n or pro cee di ng, the

re spo nde nt con te nds tha t the re spo nde nt is suf fe r ing fr om a dis abi li ty by

re aso n of m ent al or physic al inf ir m it y or il lne ss, or bec aus e of add ic ti on to
dru gs or int oxi can ts

, whic h dis abi l i t y m akes it impossi ble for the

re spo nde nt to re spo nd to or def end agains t the complai nt, suc h con te nti on sha ll p la ce at is sue the re spo nde nt’ s cap aci ty to con ti nue to pra ct ic e la w. T he Cour t the re upon sha ll ent er an ord er imm edi at el y tr ans fe rr ing the

re spo nde nt to dis abi li ty ina ct ive st at us for an ind ef ini te per iod and unt il the
fur the r o rde r o f t his Cour t.

Sec ti on 4 .3 of

Rul e 9 pro vides in per ti nen t p ar t a s f oll ows: 2

On pet it ion of the Dis ci pli nar y Couns el and sup por te d by a n a f f i d avit
demonst ra ti ng fa ct s pers ona ll y known to af fi ant

, sho wing tha t an at tor ney has m is app rop ri at ed fun ds to the at tor ney’s own use , has fa il ed to re spo nd

to the Boar d or D i sci pli nar y Couns el con cer nin g a complai nt of

m is con duc t, has fa il ed to sub st ant ia ll y comply wit h a con tr act ent er ed int o wit h the T enn ess ee Lawyer Assi st anc e Pro gram , or oth er wis e pos es a thr eat
of sub st ant ia l har m to the publ ic

, the Supr eme Cour t m ay is sue a n o rde r wit h suc h not ic e as the Cour t m ay pre scr ibe imposi ng te m por ar y con dit ion s of pro bat ion on sai d at tor ney or te m por ar il y sus p e n d i ng sai d at tor ney, or bot h.

Sec ti on 2 4.3 o f Ru le 9 a ll ows f or the as ses sment of

cos ts again st an at tor ney as fol lows : 3

I n the event tha t a j udgm ent of d is bar m ent

, sus pen si on, publ ic cen sur e,

p r ivate re pri m and

, te m por ar y sus pen si on, dis abi li ty ina ct ive st at us,

re ins ta te m ent

, or den ia l of rei nst at ement re sul ts fr om for m al pro cee din gs, the Boar d sha ll ass ess agains t the re spo nde nt the cos ts of the pro cee din gs, inc lud ing cou rt re por te r’ s exp ens es for app ear anc es and tr ans cr i p t i ons of (c ont inu ed.. .)

-2-M r

. L u f k i n s u b s e q u e n t l y f

i l e d a p e t i t i o n w i t h t h e B o a r d p u r s u a n t t o s e c t i o n 2 4

. 3 4

r e q u e s t i n g t h a t t h e $ 1 1

, 2 7 7

. 8 8 c o s t a s s e s s m e n t “ b e w a i v e d e n t i r e l y , o r t h e p a y m e n t o f [ t h e

c o s t s ] b e m o d i f

i e d a n d t h a t p a y m e n t o f s u c h c o s t s n o t b e r e q u i r e d p r i o r t o t h e P e t i t i o n e r h a v i n g h i s l i c e n s e r e t u r n e d t o a c t i v e s t a t u s , ” i n p a r t

, o n t h e g r o u n d o f “ e x t r e m e f i n a n c i a l

h a r d s h i p

. ” B y o r d e r o f M a r c h 1 1

, 2 0 1 0

, t h e P a n e l r u l e d t h a t t h e c o s t a s s e s s m e n t s h o u l d b e

r e d u c e d b y $ 2

, 5 5 4 b e c a u s e a p o r t i o n o f t h e a s s e s s m e n t w a s u n w a r r a n t e d

. T h e P a n e l o r d e r e d

M r

. L u f k i n t o p a y t h e $ 8

, 7 2 3

. 8 8 b a l a n c e a s a c o n d i t i o n p r e c e d e n t t o h i s r e i n s t a t e m e n t

.

O n A p r i l 1 2

, 2 0 1 0

, M r

. L u f k i n a p p e a l e d t o t h i s C o u r t p u r s u a n t t o s e c t i o n 1

. 3 o f

S u p r e m e C o u r t R u l e 9 a n d r e q u e s t e d t h a t t h i s b a l a n c e b e f u r t h e r r e d u c e d o r w a i v e d f o r f i n a n c i a l h a r d s h i p a n d o t h e r r e a s o n s

. T h e r e a f t e r , o n S e p t e m b e r 1

, 2 0 1 0

, M r

. L u f k i n f i l e d a
C h a p t e r 7 b a n k r u p t c y p e t i t i o n u n d e r t h e f e d e r a l B a n k r u p t c y C o d e , c o d i f i e d a t 1 1 U

. S

. C

. § §

1 0 1

- 1 5 3 2 ( 2 0 0 6 & S u p p

. I V 2 0 1 0 )

. O n D e c e m b e r 1 0

, 2 0 1 0

, t h e B a n k r u p t c y C o u r t f o r t h e
E a s t e r n D i s t r i c t o f T e n n e s s e e e n t e r e d a n o r d e r g r a n t i n g M r

. L u f k i n a d i s c h a r g e u n d e r s e c t i o n
7 2 7 o f t h e B a n k r u p t c y C o d e

.

“ A d i s c h a r g e i n b a n k r u p t c y i s a n i n v o l u n t a r y r e l e a s e b y o p e r a t i o n o f l a w o f a s s e r t e d

a n d n o n

- a s s e r t e d c l a i m s b y a c r e d i t o r a g a i n s t a p e r s o n ” t h a t h a s f i l e d a b a n k r u p t c y

p e t i t i o n

. P a r n h a m v

. P a r n h a m , N o

. M 1 9 9 8

- 0 0 9 1 5

- C O A

- R 3

- C V

, 2 0 0 1 W L 1 2 0 7 3 4

, a t * 2 ( T e n n

. C t

. A p p

. F e b

. 1 4

, 2 0 0 1 ) ( c i t i n g I n r e D o w C o r n i n g C o r p

. , 2 5 5 B

. R

. 4 4 5

, 4 7 6 ( E

. D

. M i c h

. 2 0 0 0 ) ) ; I n r e A r r o w m i l l D e v

. C o r p

. , 2 1 1 B

. R

. 4 9 7

, 5 0 3 ( B a n k r

. D

. N

. J

. 1 9 9 7 )

. A

d i s c h a r g e o p e r a t e s t o v o i d a d e b t o r ’ s p e r s o n a l l i a b i l i t y f o r a n y j u d g m e n t o b t a i n e d b e f o r e t h e d e b t o r f i l e d h i s o r h e r b a n k r u p t c y p e t i t i o n w i t h r e s p e c t t o a n y d e b t d i s c h a r g e d u n d e r s e c t i o n
7 2 7

. 1 1 U

. S

. C

. § 5 2 4 ( a ) ( 2 0 0 6 ) ; F o r d C o n s u m e r F i n

. C o

. v

. C l a y , 9 8 4 S

. W

. 2 d 6 1 5

, 6 1 6 ( T e n n

. C t

. A p p

. 1 9 9 8 ) ( c i t a t i o n s o m i t t e d )

. D i s c i p l i n a r y p r o c e e d i n g c o s t s a s s e s s e d t o a n

a t t o r n e y p u r s u a n t t o s e c t i o n 2 4

. 3 a r e i n c l u d e d a m o n g t h o s e d e b t s d i s c h a r g e d i n a C h a p t e r 7

b a n k r u p t c y

. I n r e L o v e ,

_ _ B

. R

.

_ _ , 2 0 1 1 W L 1 1 3 5 2 4

, a t * 1 1

- 1 2 ( B a n k r

. M

. D

. T e n n

. J a n

. 1 2

, 2 0 1 1 )

.

(... con ti nue d) 3

al l hea ri ngs and dep osi ti ons , the exp ens e s of the hea ri ng pan el in the
hea ri ng o f t h e cau se, and the hour ly cha rge of Dis ci pli nar y Couns el in
inves ti gatin g and pr ose cut ing th e matte r.

Sec ti on 2 4.3 o f Ru le 9 a ll ows a n at tor ney to re que st re li ef fr om as ses sed cos ts as fo ll ows: 4

T he re spo nde nt at tor ney m ay pet it ion the Boar d for re li ef fr om cos ts wit hin
thi rt y days of r ece ipt of the fi nal bil l o f c ost s or on t he t er m ina ti on o f a ny

ac ti on upon whic h the dis ci pli nar y pro cee din g was bas ed, whic hever oc cu rs la st

. I n see king r el ie f, the re spo nde nt at tor ney sha ll have the oppo rt uni ty

to app ear and be hea rd bef ore the Boar d or a dul y con st it ute d pan el the re of.

-3-W i t h o u t r u l i n g o r c o m m e n t i n g o n t h e m e r i t s o f M r

. L u f k i n ’ s p e t i t i o n , w e h o l d t h a t M r

. L u f k i n ’ s a p p e a l t o t h i s C o u r t i s m o o t a n d s h o u l d b e d i s m i s s e d b e c a u s e t h e c o s t s f o r w h i c h

h e s e e k s r e l i e f h a v e b e e n d i s c h a r g e d i n b a n k r u p t c y a n d a r e n o l o n g e r o w e d

. A c a s e , s u c h a s

t h e o n e b e f

o r e u s , t h a t d o e s n o t i n v o l v e p r e s e n t l y e x i s t i n g r i g h t s , “ l i v e i s s u e s t h a t a r e w i t h i n

a c o u r t ’ s p o w e r t o r e s o l v e , a n d p a r t i e s w h o h a v e a l e g a l l y c o g n i z a b l e i n t e r e s t i n t h e

r e s o l u t i o n o f t h e s e i s s u e s , ” i s n o l o n g e r j u s t i c i a b l e

. S t a t e e x r e l

. D e S e l m v

. J o r d a n , 2 9 6

S

. W

. 3 d 5 3 0

, 5 3 4 ( T e n n

. C t

. A p p

. 2 0 0 9 )

. A c a s e m a y l o s e i t s j u s t i c i a b i l i t y a n d t h e r e b y b e c o m e m o o t a s t h e r e s u l t o f a c o u r t d e c i s i o n , a c t s o f t h e p a r t i e s , o r s o m e o t h e r e v e n t t h a t

o c c u r s d u r i n g t h e p e n d e n c y o f t h e c a s e

. N o r m a F a y e P y l e s L y n c h F a m i l y P u r p o s e L L C v

. P u t n a m C n t y

. , 3 0 1 S

. W

. 3 d 1 9 6

, 2 0 4 ( T e n n

. 2 0 0 9 )

. I f a c a s e n o l o n g e r s e r v e s a s a m e a n s t o

p r o v i d e s o m e s o r t o f j u d i c i a l r e l i e f t o t h e p r e v a i l i n g p a r t y i t w i l l b e c o n s i d e r e d m o o t

. I d

. M r

. L u f k i n ’ s l i a b i l i t y f

o r t h e c o s t s a n d e x p e n s e s o f h i s d i s c i p l i n a r y p r o c e e d i n g s w a s n u l l i f i e d b y h i s d i s c h a r g e i n b a n k r u p t c y , a n d h e n o l o n g e r r e q u i r e s r e l i e f i n t h i s C o u r t f r o m t h e

a s s e s s m e n t o f t h o s e c o s t s a n d e x p e n s e s

. T h e r e f o r e , t h i s a p p e a l i s m o o t

. S e e C l a y , 9 8 4

S

. W

. 2 d a t 6 1 6

- 1 7 ( h o l d i n g t h a t p e r s o n a l m o n e y j u d g m e n t a g a i n s t C h a p t e r 7 d e b t o r w a s

a b r o g a t e d b y d e b t o r ’ s b a n k r u p t c y d i s c h a r g e )

.

W h i l e t h e r e a r e c e r t a i n e x c e p t i o n a l c i r c u m s t a n c e s t h a t o f f e r a b a s i s f

o r n o t i n v o k i n g

t h e m o o t n e s s d o c t r i n e t o d i s m i s s a c a s e , n o n e o f t h o s e c i r c u m s t a n c e s a r e p r e s e n t i n t h i s c a s e

. 5

C o n c l u s i o n

F o r t h e r e a s o n s s t a t e d

, M r

. L u f k i n i s n o l o n g e r l i a b l e f

o r t h e d i s c i p l i n a r y p r o c e e d i n g

c o s t s a s s e s s e d a g a i n s t h i m b y t h e P a n e l f r o m w h i c h h e s e e k s r e l i e f o n a p p e a l t o t h i s
C o u r t

. T h i s a p p e a l

, b e i n g m o o t

, i s t h e r e f o r e d i s m i s s e d

. A l l c o s t s o f t h i s a p p e a l a r e t a x e d t o
D a v i d A

. L u f

k i n , S r

. , a n d h i s s u r e t y , f o r w h i c h e x e c u t i o n m a y i s s u e i f n e c e s s a r y

.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ S H A R O N G

. L E E

, J U S T I C E

For exa m ple

, cou rt s have dec li ned to dis m is s a ca se unde r t he mootn ess doc tr ine when the is sue 5

invol ved a m at te r of great publ ic import anc e or import anc e to the adminis tr at ion of j ust ic e; when the con duc t
in con tr oversy was a m at te r cap abl e of re pet it ion and was of suc h sho rt dur at ion tha t it woul d evade j udi ci al

re view; when, des pit e the m oot nes s of the pri m ar y sub j ect of dis put e, col la te ra l con seq uen ces to the par ti es

per si st ed; and when the def end ant volunt ar il y cea sed the con duc t complai ned of. Norma Faye Pyles Lynch Family Purp ose LLC, 30 1 S.W .3d a t 2 04.

-4-