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Another complaint filed against Warren attorney John Large
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
The Ohio Board of Professional Conduct has certified a case against Atty. John Large to the Ohio Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
Large was previously suspended for 18 months in 2012 and 12 months in 2009.
An investigator with the Trumbull County Bar Association referred the most recent matter after investigating a complaint from a Morgantown, W.Va., woman that Large failed to appear for two consecutive hearings in Warren Municipal Court to represent her in her effort to collect a debt.
The woman retained Large in December 2015, and Large filed a motion Dec. 14 to reset her case. He filed another motion March 1 to reset the case from its March 2 trial date, the bar association complaint says.
However, Large did not notify the client of the reset trial date in March, and she came to Warren to learn the case was not going forward that day.
Large, who has an office in Warren, assured the client he would be present for the March 23 trial date, but he did not appear, the complaint says.
The client had to represent herself without benefit of the documents she had given to Large, the complaint says. She lost the case, and the magistrate overruled objections Large filed.
The client filed a complaint with the bar association May 17, and Atty. Robert Root investigated it, speaking with the client and with Large.
Root found that Large’s conduct violated Ohio rules of professional conduct.
Large did not return a call to his office seeking comment.
Large has been directed to file an answer to the allegations. After he answers, the case will be assigned to a three-member hearing panel of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct.
If the panel finds that Large engaged in misconduct, the panel will recommend a sanction to the Ohio Supreme Court, which will review the case and impose discipline.
Large’s license was suspended in 2012 for misconduct in his dealings with three clients and for lying to the Supreme Court while seeking reinstatement from his prior disciplinary suspension.
The Ohio Supreme Court suspended Large’s law license in 2009 for failing to file federal or state income-tax returns and failing to report employee wages from 2000 through 2004, according to Vindicator files.