On Wednesday, September 6, 2023, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals Board on Professional Responsibility Ad Hoc Hearing Committee recommended that attorney John K. Evans be suspended from the practice of law for 365 days. The committee notes that Evans has acknowledged the material facts and misconduct reflected in the amended petition and has freely and voluntarily acknowledged his wrongdoing.

The case is entitled “In the Matter of John K. Evans,” with case no. 23-ND-001.

The charges cited DC Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4(c).

The report states that Evans failed to accurately report his financial interests and clients, which constituted reckless misrepresentation in violation of the D.C. Rule of Professional Conduct. Specifically, Evans did not disclose his ownership of stock in Fidelity and Trust Bank, which he purchased in 2005, and his work as counsel for the law firm Manatt, Phelps, & Phillips, LLP, from October 2015 to November 2017. Evans also failed to disclose his role as principal of NSE Consulting, LLC, which he established in July 2016.

The report notes that as a member of the Council of the District of Columbia from 1991 to 2020, Evans was subject to the Code of Conduct, a set of statutes and regulations applicable to all District of Columbia government officials. Evans was required to file an annual financial disclosure statement with the Board on Ethics and Government Accountability (BEGA). However, Evans failed to disclose his outside employment and income from Manatt Phelps and NSE Consulting on his financial disclosure statements for the calendar years 2015 and 2016.

The report also states that Evans electronically certified his financial disclosure statements, which included a certification that he understood that making false statements on the form was punishable by criminal penalties. The report notes that Evans’s actions constituted reckless misrepresentation and violated the D.C. Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4(c).

The conclusion and recommendation states:

“For the reasons stated above, it is the recommendation of this Hearing Committee that the negotiated discipline be approved and that the Court suspend Respondent for 365 days.”

According to Avvo, Mr. Evans is a civil rights attorney in the District of Columbia. He acquired his law license in the District of Columbia in 1982.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.