Ex-Niles law director has law license suspended

Staff report

COLUMBUS

The recently retired Niles law director received a two-year suspension of his law license from the Ohio Supreme Court for misappropriating $37,000 in client funds.

The court’s opinion found that J. Terrence Dull violated several rules governing Ohio attorneys’ conduct.

Dull served as Niles’ law director for 30 years, but the misconduct occurred in his private practice.

In 2011, a client asked Dull to invest $45,000, which he held onto. When the client requested $27,000 from the fund, Dull told him he had withdrawn $37,000 for his own personal use, according to the opinion.

Dull admitted to withdrawing money from the account between 2011 and January 2013, the opinion said, claiming he moved to a new office and the overhead exceeded his expectations.

He hoped to refund the account before his client requested the funds.

Dull also failed to tell clients he lacked malpractice insurance, according to the opinion.

The court typically disbars lawyers who misappropriate client funds, but because Dull had no prior disciplinary record, paid full restitution to his victim and cooperated with disciplinary proceedings, the court decided to suspend Dull’s license.

The state’s two-year suspension with one year stayed exceeded the Board of Professional Conduct’s recommendation of a one-year suspension with six months stayed.

The second year will be stayed on the condition Dull completes a legal-education course and commit no further misconduct.