On Thursday, September 8, 2022, the Supreme Court of Ohio suspended Cleveland Attorney Robert Chester Brooks II for continuing to practice law after his attorney-registration and Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) suspension had been imposed.
The case, titled Metropolitan Bar Association v. Brooks, was brought by Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association. Case #2021-019.
The charges cited Brooks’s violation of Professional Conduct Rules 1.4(c) (requiring a lawyer to inform a client if the lawyer does not maintain professional liability insurance and had failed to notify his clients in writing that he did not carry such insurance), 3.4(c) (prohibiting a lawyer from knowingly disobeying an obligation under the rules of a tribunal), 5.5(a) (prohibiting a lawyer from practicing law in a jurisdiction in violation of the regulation of the legal profession in that jurisdiction), 8.1(b) (requiring a lawyer to cooperate with a disciplinary investigation), 8.4(c) (prohibiting a lawyer from engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation).
On November 1, 2019, the Court suspended Brooks’s license for failure to register as an attorney for the 2019/2020 biennium. Thereafter, on October 14, 2020, his license was suspended again for failure to comply with the CLE requirements.
According to the filing:
“Although Brooks received notice of the suspension in December 2019, he continued to practice law. In February 2020, he represented a client in a contempt hearing in the GarfieldHeightsMunicipal Court. In July 2020, he appeared as counsel at a hearing in the Cuyahoga County Court of CommonPleas. In August 2020, he filed a motion in a different case pending in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, and in the same case he attempted to appear at a September 2020hearing, although the judge prohibitedBrooksfromparticipatingafterlearning of his suspension. Brooks told the judge that he had.”
The filing continues:
“As noted above, on October 14, 2020, we imposed Brooks’s CLEs suspension. A few days later, relator notifiedBrooksthat it had received a grievance alleging that he had been practicing law while under suspension. Brooks responded to the grievance in November 2020. Despite his knowledge of both suspensions and relator’s investigation, Brooks continued to practice law. In November 2020 through March 2021, he appeared on behalf of a client at four hearings in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court. Brooks failed to notify that court of his suspension before any of those hearings. In February 2021, he filed a notice of appearance and a request for discovery in the Garfield Heights Municipal Court, although the following month, he moved to withdraw and advised the court of his suspension.”
The filing additionally notes:
“Relator notified Brooks that it had received two more grievances against him and requested that he respond to each. Brooks, however, failed to do so. In May 2021, Brooks spoke on the telephone with relator’s counsel, who asked Brooks to provide him with a list of all matters in which Brooks had appeared as counsel while under suspension. Brooks failed to provide the list. In July 2021, relator filed its disciplinary complaint, and books waived his right to a determination of probable cause.”
Despite Brook’s awareness of the complaint, he continued to pursue a matter pending in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas until December 2021, over a month away from the scheduled disciplinary hearing.
After a hearing, the Board of Professional Conduct issued its report finding Brooks had engaged in conduct in violation of the Professional Conduct Rules as charged and recommended that the Court indefinitely suspend him from the practice of law and impose a condition on his potential reinstatement.
Neither Brooks nor the Relator objected to the Board’s Report.
The Court, having considered Brooks’smisconduct, the relevant aggravating and mitigating factors, and the applicable precedent, agreed with the board’s recommended sanction.
The dispositive portion of the Slip Opinion reads:
“Robert Chester Brooks II is hereby indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in Ohio. In addition to the requirements of Gov.Bar R. V(25), Brooks’s reinstatement shall be conditioned on submission of proof that he has undergone an OLAP evaluation and complied with any resulting recommendations for counseling and/or other mental-health treatment. Costs are taxed to Brooks.”
According to LinkedIn, Mr. Brooks has practiced in Cleveland, Ohio and he has been licensed in Ohio, license #0040881.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
