On Wednesday, June 14, 2023, the Disciplinary Counsel of Ohio files a complaint against attorney Joseph John Bush before the Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme Court of Ohio for committing a false notary.

The case is entitled “Disciplinary Counsel v Joseph John Bush,” with case no. 2023-014.

The charges cited Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct Rules 3.3 (a) (1) which states:

A lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal.

The Rules of Professional Conduct can be found here.

The case stemmed when the respondent assisted his daughter in a legal name change proceeding. The respondent notarized his signing the name of his daughter falsely representing that it had been “sworn to and signed in” the respondent’s presence by his daughter. On the hearing date, Magistrate Jessica Gault heard a disturbance involving Courtney, Caroline, and the respondent. Magistrate Gault learned that Courtney disagreed with changing K.J.’s last name to Lewis and did not give her consent.

The filing states:

“Magistrate Gault proceeded to the hallway and moved them to a hearing room to ascertain the disturbance. She learned that Courtney disagreed about changing K.J.’s last name to Lewis and would not consent. Courtney indicated to Magistrate Gault that she did not sign the Consent form but had given the respondent authority to sign her name. However, Courtney did not realize she was authorizing the respondent to consent to the proposed name change of Lewis, which she disagreed with. Instead, Courtney wanted K.J.’s last name changed to Bush. Respondent indicated that he was unaware that Courtney objected to the name change of Lewis until she appeared for the August 4, 2022 hearing.”

After a thorough examination, the Board has determined that the conduct of the respondent, as outlined in the aforementioned allegations, is in direct violation of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct.

The Disposition states:

“Realtor requests that respondent be found in violation of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct and be sanctioned accordingly.”

As of today, attorney Bush is listed in the law firm Schiavoni, Schiavoni, Bush & Muldowney, as a practicing attorney. He attended the University of Akron School of Law. He practices in Youngstown, Ohio. He is licensed in Ohio. His info can be found on lawyer.com.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.