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Attorney’s law license suspended
By ED RUNYAN
WARREN
The Ohio Supreme Court has suspended the law license of Atty. Kenneth N. Shaw of Howland for two years for three violations of the state’s rules for attorneys.
The second year could be waived if he meets certain conditions.
In an opinion released last week, the court’s Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline said one of Shaw’s violations was naming his five children as beneficiaries of an elderly client’s trust, entitling them to $5,000 each in the event of Shaw’s client’s death.
Shaw admitted he had not advised the client, who was unrelated to him by blood or marriage, “of the inherent conflict of interest in naming his children as beneficiaries of a document he had prepared,” the court said.
“He also admitted that he had never suggested that she obtain advice from a disinterested person or have another attorney prepare the trust documents.”
Two of the three upheld complaints against Shaw involved legal work he did for the woman starting in September 1999.
The second complaint involved a $13,000 loan he obtained from the woman to use as a down payment for a building to house his law practice. He failed to repay the loan as agreed, and the client sued in Warren Municipal Court and received a judgment of $13,000 against Shaw, the Supreme Court said.
Shaw “admitted that he had not advised his client that she should obtain independent advice before making the loan, had not advised her of the risks of making the unsecured loan, and had not discussed the inherent conflict of interest in the loan arrangement,” the Supreme Court said.
The third upheld complaint involved two clients who sought a guardianship of a grandmother in January 2007. The woman died several months later.
Shaw collected $2,000 from the clients for legal work on the case without seeking approval first from the Trumbull County Probate Court, which later approved payment of $800 of the $2,000.
The Supreme Court ordered Shaw to pay restitution of $1,200 to the client in the 2007 complaint and either pay restitution of $12,250 to the estate of the client in the 1999 complaint or submit evidence to the court to prove that the financial obligation was discharged in bankruptcy.
If Shaw meets those conditions, his license suspension will be removed after one year, the court said.