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Yavorcik to answer Bar complaint March 18
COLUMBUS
A three-member panel of the Board of Professional Conduct of the Ohio Supreme Court will have a March 18 hearing regarding a complaint filed against Atty. Martin Yavorcik contending he failed to give more than $10,000 in settlement money to a client.
Yavorcik is best known for having eight felonies related to the Oakhill Renaissance Place corruption case overturned. The state Supreme Court reinstated his law license Jan. 10.
This complaint, filed by the Mahoning County Bar Association, accuses Yavorcik of owing $10,931.28 to a client who is the parent and guardian of a minor injured in an Aug. 12, 2013, motor vehicle accident in Mahoning County. The case was resolved two years later, but the client never received the settlement money from Yavorcik, who was his attorney, according to the complaint.
The complaint alleges Yavorcik committed misconduct as an attorney and should be disciplined by the court.
Yavorcik couldn’t be reached Thursday by The Vindicator to comment.
After a hearing, the three-member panel makes a recommendation to the full Ohio Board of Professional Conduct. If the full board decides Yavorcik engaged in professional misconduct, it makes a recommendation to the Ohio Supreme Court, which takes final action.
A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge found Yavorcik guilty March 25, 2016, of eight felonies: one count each of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy and tampering with records, two counts of money laundering and three counts of bribery. Yavorcik had his law license suspended and spent a year on house arrest.
Prosecutors claimed Yavorcik joined the Oakhill conspiracy in 2008 when he ran for Mahoning County prosecutor as an independent with the expectation that if he won, he would stop a criminal investigation into the blocking of the county’s purchase of the former Southside Medical Center.
The 8th District Court of Appeals vacated Yavorcik’s conviction May 10, 2018, in a 3-0 decision, writing that Cuyahoga County was the wrong place to have his trial because he didn’t commit any crimes there. The state Supreme Court ruled in a 4-2 decision Aug. 29, 2018, that it wouldn’t take up an appeal from the Ohio attorney general and Cuyahoga County prosecutor.