Lawyer's bid to ease sanctions falls short

Justices confirm fine, suspension

A Hot Springs attorney failed in an effort to lessen sanctions rendered upon him by the state's legal professional board after he was found to have acted unethically in maneuvers to represent both sides of a custody battle.

Citing clear misconduct, as well as a history of disciplinary actions by state authorities, the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed the decision by the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct that John Skylar Tapp should be fined $10,000 and lose his law license for 90 days.

Thursday's ruling won't take effect until weeks from now, said Stark Ligon, the head of the Supreme Court's Office of Professional Conduct, but it won't have an immediate effect when it does.

Pending the results of an ongoing but unrelated disbarment effort by Ligon's office, the Supreme Court had suspended Tapp's license last September. That process is still being litigated before a special judge.

Thursday's ruling sided with the commission's unanimous August 2013 finding that Tapp violated three sections of the state's Rules of Professional Conduct when he was hired to represent Jason Schmidt in 2012 in a custody suit, just six years after he'd been hired by the child's mother, Nita Bargen, to help determine Schmidt's paternity in the case.

Tapp's attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig, said Thursday that his client maintains he did no wrong and that they didn't contest the commission's findings in the appeal. He said they asked only that the Supreme Court lighten a disciplinary finding they found to be too "severe."

"[Tapp] engaged in conduct involving deceit or misrepresentation when he undertook to represent Schmidt against Bargen in 2012, after he had represented Bargen in the same case against Schmidt in 2006," Chief Justice Jim Hannah wrote in Thursday's opinion.

"Conduct involving deceit or misrepresentation qualifies as 'serious misconduct.'"

According to affidavits filed with the commission, Bargen wanted a more "aggressive" attorney when she approached Tapp for help and wrote him a check for $1,800 as a retainer after discussing the case with him. She later changed her mind, according to records, and Tapp gave her a refund of $1,432.

Six years later, Tapp was hired to represent Schmidt in the case while Bargen was represented by a former law partner of Tapp's, Joe Churchwell.

Churchwell filed a motion to get Tapp removed from the case. In a May 17, 2012, ruling by Judge Marcia Hearnsberger, that motion was granted.

When a complaint of misconduct reached the professional conduct office, Tapp responded and argued that he never discussed the Schmidt case with Bargen and that after his "acrimonious" fallout with Churchwell in 2007, his former associate "had been making various ethical violation allegations."

The commission's findings and the court's ruling both highlighted Tapp's extensive history of complaints, involving at least 11 disciplinary actions since 1983.

Tapp has been reprimanded, cautioned and fined for a variety of conduct violations, including instances in which poor communication with clients led to cases being dismissed or lost.

"Given [Tapp's] 'serious misconduct' and that his disciplinary record demonstrates a substantial disregard of his professional duties and responsibilities, we do not agree with Tapp's contention that a suspension is unduly harsh," Hannah wrote. "We affirm the sanction imposed by the Committee."

The complaint Bargen filed against Tapp preceded complaints that prompted a disbarment process in March 2013.

Ligon said he sought to disbar the Hot Springs lawyer after two complaints were filed, but after four more came in, they were merged into the disbarment procedure, which involved 17 days of hearings before special Judge John Lineberger.

Once the trial is complete, Lineberger will submit a report to the Supreme Court, which will consider arguments from both sides before making a final ruling, Ligon said.

Ligon said he doubted the Supreme Court would be involved in the disbarment proceedings until sometime next year.

Metro on 09/19/2014

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