|
Court
News Ohio
Former Attorney
General Dann’s Law License Suspended
By Dennis Whalen
November 20, 2012
The law license of former Ohio Attorney General Marc E. Dann has been
suspended for six months for engaging in conduct that resulted in his
conviction on misdemeanor criminal counts of soliciting improper
compensation and filing false financial disclosure statements during
his tenure as attorney general.
In a 7-0 per curiam opinion announced today, the Supreme Court of Ohio
adopted findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and
Discipline that Dann “engaged in conduct that adversely reflects on his
fitness to practice law” by making improper payments from his political
campaign fund to two senior aides while they were employed by the
attorney general’s office and by filing 2007 and 2008 financial
disclosure statements that failed to disclose expense reimbursement
checks totaling $17,540 that Dann had received from his campaign
committee and failed to disclose that a campaign contributor and his
companies had paid more than $20,000 to lease a private jet that
transported Dann, his children and others to a seminar in Scottsdale,
Arizona.
In rejecting Dann’s argument that a stayed license suspension was a
sufficient sanction for his misconduct, the court wrote: “While we
recognize that Dann has offered substantial mitigating evidence, we
note that he has previously been disciplined by this court, he has
admitted that he knowingly engaged in the conduct that resulted in his
criminal conviction for soliciting improper compensation, and that his
conduct with respect to his financial-disclosure statements fell
somewhere between reckless and knowing. He also engaged in this
unlawful conduct while serving as the state’s chief legal officer and
one of the most recognizable attorneys in this state.”
“Having considered, Dann’s conduct, the applicable aggravating and
mitigating factors, and the sanctions imposed for comparable
misconduct, we find that the board properly weighed the aggravating and
mitigating factors present in this case. Therefore, we overrule Dann’s
objections, concur with the findings of the board, and agree that a
six-month actual license suspension is the appropriate sanction for
Dann’s misconduct.”
|
|
|
|
