By SHELLEY TERRY - Staff Writer - sterry@starbeacon.com
ASHTABULA — Former City Solicitor Thomas Simon says if it is determined he improperly deposited and disbursed any funds in a lawyer’s trust account, he will acknowledge any wrongdoing and accept responsibility.
Simon is alleged to have commingled his personal money with Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts (IOLTA) fund moneys, writing $369,081 worth of checks payable to himself and others, from the account. He is charged with violating professional and ethical conduct prescribed for Ohio attorneys and judges, according to a complaint filed last month by the Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel. A lawyer who receives funds that belong to a client must place those funds in an IOLTA separate from the lawyer’s own money.
“It is my opinion all of the funds I deposited into that account should have been deposited therein because a large percentage of those funds belonged to third persons/ legal entities or were funds to which I would, eventually, be entitled,” Simon said Wednesday in a faxed press release. “As of this date, I am in the process of responding to the Feb. 8 complaint.”
Counsel for the Supreme Court of Ohio Office of Disciplinary Counsel Jonathan E. Coughlan said the Ashtabula County Bar Association Certified Grievance Committee and the Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel investigated the matter and a public hearing will be scheduled sometime during the next 120 days, in Columbus. Coughlan believes there is probable cause for disciplinary action, according to the Disciplinary Counsel complaint. Simon could lose his law license as a result of his actions, Coughlan said.
In the event the Disciplinary Counsel determines Simon was not in violation of prescribed rules governing IOLTAs, the complaint will be dismissed.
Regarding commingling, if a lawyer’s client believes money was misused or stolen, there is a client security fund, Coughlan said.
“We don’t get involved in restitution,” he said.
Simon faces four possible consequences: no discipline, public reprimand, law-license suspension and having his law license permanently revoked.
Coughlan said he could not comment on the specifics of Simon’s case.
However, he did say there are about 40,000 lawyers in the state of Ohio, and of those 40,000, about five attorneys a year come before the Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Ohio, charged with misconduct in connection to their IOLTAs.
