Ky. Bar Ass'n v. Mills, 2010-SC-000148-KB.
Decision Date | 26 August 2010 |
Docket Number | No. 2010-SC-000148-KB.,2010-SC-000148-KB. |
Citation | 318 S.W.3d 89 |
Parties | KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION, Movant,v.Melbourne MILLS, Respondent. |
Court | United States State Supreme Court — District of Kentucky |
COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED
The Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association has recommended to this Court that Respondent, Melbourne Mills, Jr., KBA Member No. 48720, be permanently disbarred as a result of numerous violations of our Rules of Professional Conduct. Mills was admitted to practice law in Kentucky on April, 18, 1958, and his last known bar roster address is Barrister Hall, 163 E. Main Street, Ste. 103, Lexington, KY 40507. We agree with and adopt the Board's recommendation.
The original twenty-three charges against Mills stem from his actions in two cases. One of the charges comes from his failure to properly answer interrogatories in William H. Tucker v. Adrian Park.1 His failure to properly respond led to the case's dismissal. The twenty-two other charges stem from his actions during Darla Guard, et al. or Jonetta Moore, et al. v. A.H. Robins Company, et al.2 Most of these charges are related to a series of dishonest and fraudulent acts in the handling of a $200,450,000 aggregate settlement of the claims of 440 clients. Mills's co-counsel in this case have already been permanently disbarred. See Cunningham v. Kentucky Bar Association, 266 S.W.3d 808 (Ky.2008); Gallion v. Kentucky Bar Association, 266 S.W.3d 802 (Ky.2008).
After initial investigations by the Inquiry Commission, the twenty-three charges against Mills were presented to Trial Commissioner Marcia Ridings. She entered findings of fact and conclusions of law which found Mills guilty of seventeen of the twenty-three charges, and recommended that Mills be permanently disbarred.
Pursuant to SCR 3.370(6), the Board of Governors decided, by a vote of fourteen to one, that the findings and conclusions of the Trial Commissioner were supported by substantial evidence and not clearly erroneous, and that the punishment of permanent disbarment was appropriate. We will now outline each of the charges the Board of Governors found Mills guilty of:
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