Case Name: Cleveland Bar Association v. Knowlton
Court: Supreme Court of Ohio
Jurisdiction: Ohio
Decision Date: 1998-02-18
Citations: 81 Ohio St. 3d 76
Docket Number: No. 97-1284
Parties: Cleveland Bar Association v. Knowlton.
Judges: Moyer, C.J., Douglas, Resnick, F.E. Sweeney, Pfeifer, Cook and Lundberg Stratton, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Ohio State Reports, Third Service
Volume: 81
Pages: 76–78

Head Matter:
Cleveland Bar Association v. Knowlton.
[Cite as Cleveland Bar Assn. v. Knowlton (1998), 81 Ohio St.3d 76.]
(No. 97-1284
Submitted December 3, 1997
Decided February 18, 1998.)
Harvey Snider and Lynn A. McLaughlin, for relator.
William T. Doyle, for respondent.

Opinion:
Per Curiam.
We adopt the findings and conclusions of the board. In Disciplinary Counsel v. Fowerbaugh (1995), 74 Ohio St.3d 187, 190, 658 N.E.2d 237, 240, we said that "[w]hen an attorney engages in a course of conduct resulting in a finding that the attorney has violated DR 1-102(A)(4), the attorney will be actually suspended from the practice of law for an appropriate period of time." The question before us, then, is an appropriate period of suspension.
Respondent misappropriated client funds. In Miami Cty. Bar Assn. v. Hallows (1997), 78 Ohio St.3d 75, 77, 676 N.E.2d 517, 518-519, we said that, absent mitigating circumstances, the appropriate sanction for such misappropriation is disbarment and pointed out that we have so held for at least twenty-two years. In Hallows, as in the earlier case of Cuyahoga Cty. Bar Assn. v. Keeler (1996), 76 Ohio St.3d 471, 475, 668 N.E.2d 471, 474, we gave weight to an attorney's sincere attempt to overcome the disability which may have caused his problems. In both of those cases we imposed the sanction of indefinite suspension. We impose the same sanction in this case. Respondent is hereby indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in Ohio. Costs taxed to respondent.
Judgment accordingly.
Moyer, C.J., Douglas, Resnick, F.E. Sweeney, Pfeifer, Cook and Lundberg Stratton, JJ., concur.