The Tennessee Supreme Court has unanimously affirmed a six-month suspension of Nashville attorney Paul J. Walwyn’s law license for failure to act diligently in his representation of clients.
In 2012, the Board of Professional Responsibility filed a petition for discipline against Mr. Walwyn based on three complaints of misconduct arising out of his appellate representation of three criminal defendants. A hearing panel found that Mr. Walwyn had violated certain Rules of Professional Conduct, including the rule requiring lawyers to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client, the rule requiring lawyers to make reasonable efforts to expedite litigation, and the rule requiring lawyers not to engage in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. The hearing panel concluded that Mr. Walwyn should be suspended from the practice of law for six months, with 30 days’ active suspension and five months’ probation.
Mr. Walwyn appealed to the Chancery Court for Davidson County, which affirmed the hearing panel’s findings and judgment. Mr. Walwyn then appealed to the Supreme Court, alleging a number of procedural, evidentiary, and constitutional errors and claiming that the hearing panel acted arbitrarily.
The Supreme Court upheld the decisions of the hearing panel and the Davidson County Chancery Court, finding each of Mr. Walwyn’s claims of error to be without merit. In particular, the Court rejected Mr. Walwyn’s claim that the procedure by which his suspension was imposed is unconstitutional because the standard of proof is preponderance of the evidence rather than clear-and-convincing evidence. The Court also held that the six-month suspension, with 30 days of active suspension and five months of probation, is an appropriate sanction.
Read the unanimous opinion in Paul J. Walwyn v. Board of Professional Responsibility, authored by Justice Cornelia A. Clark.