On Thursday, August 28, 2025, an ethics complaint was filed against attorney Susan Lawrence Butler with the Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme Court of Ohio. The complaint, filed by Disciplinary Counsel, alleges that Butler engaged in misconduct while working at the Law Office of Marc Mezibov, later renamed Mezibov Butler.
The case is entitled “In the Matter of Susan Lawrence Butler,” with case number 2025-015.
Butler was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio on November 5, 2007. From 2007 to 2023, she was an attorney at the Law Office of Marc Mezibov, and in 2016, the firm’s name changed to Mezibov Butler. She managed the firm’s finances. Her then-husband, Brian Butler, joined the firm in 2015.
In September 2022, Brian Butler became suspicious about bonus distributions. An investigation revealed that Susan Butler had been giving herself and Brian unauthorized bonuses. As a result, her annual salary was reduced from $130,000 to $90,000. Further investigation uncovered that Butler had been writing checks to herself from the firm’s operating account in 2022 and 2023, falsely labeling them as “reimbursements” for firm-related travel.
The firm terminated Butler on July 12, 2023. Subsequently, in August 2023, discrepancies were found indicating that from 2019 through 2023, Butler had been using firm checks to pay her personal credit card, concealing the misappropriation by noting “Subro” on the checks, misleading the firm’s accountant to believe they were subrogation payments for clients.
The firm reported Butler’s actions to law enforcement in Hamilton County. They alleged she misappropriated $13,248.79 in personal expenses charged to the firm’s credit card, $10,855.28 in reimbursement checks, $68,074.88 in firm payments to her personal credit card, and $153,500 in unauthorized bonuses to herself and Brian.
On March 10, 2024, Butler was indicted on three third-degree felonies in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. The charges included theft, unauthorized use of property, and tampering with records. On September 26, 2024, she pleaded guilty to one count of Unauthorized Use of Property, amended to a fifth-degree felony, and the other charges were dismissed.
Prior to sentencing, the firm received $188,000 from its insurance company. On March 25, 2025, Butler agreed to pay $30,000 in restitution to the firm. She was sentenced on March 26, 2025, to one year of community control, with conditions including random drug screenings, maintaining employment, and following standard probation terms. Butler paid the restitution on March 28, 2025.
Butler received an interim suspension on May 12, 2025, following her felony conviction.
The Disciplinary Counsel alleges Butler’s conduct violates Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4(b) and 8.4(c), concerning illegal acts reflecting on a lawyer’s honesty and conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation. The Disciplinary Counsel requests that Butler be found in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct and be sanctioned.
According to Avvo, Ms. Silverman is a civil rights lawyer in Cincinnati, OH. She acquired her law license in Ohio in 2007.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
