Washington Lawyer - March/April 2020 - 46

DISCIPLINARY SUMMARIES

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Disciplinary Actions Taken by the
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
Original Matters
In re Scott L. Adkins. Bar No. 980220.
November 14, 2019. The D.C. Court of
Appeals suspended Adkins for three years
with fitness. Adkins made misrepresentations on his 2006 D.C. Bar application and
on his 2008 Supplemental Questionnaire in
that he did not disclose or failed to update
information relating to civil actions in which
he was involved, his criminal history, his
termination from past employment, and his
past due debts. Adkins also made misrepresentations to Disciplinary Counsel about his
2009 conviction arising from an alcoholinduced hit-and-run accident. Rules 8.1(a),
8.1(b), 8.4(b), 8.4(c), and 8.4(d).
In re Karen Cleaver-Bascombe. Bar No.
458922. November 27, 2019. The D.C. Court
of Appeals denied Cleaver-Bascombe's
petition for reinstatement.
In re Michael G. Hoehn. Bar No. 478591.
October 10, 2019. The D.C. Court of Appeals
disbarred Hoehn by consent, effective
immediately.
In re Steven Kreiss. Bar No. 58297. November
14, 2019. The D.C. Court of Appeals publicly
censured Kreiss with the requirement that
he complete an ethics CLE approved by
Disciplinary Counsel. Kreiss improperly
imposed a lien on his former client's file
and failed to return it to the client for
several months, despite repeated requests
from successor counsel. Rules 1.8(i) and
1.16(d).
In re Lawrence R. Radanovic. Bar No. 10413.
October 31, 2019. The D.C. Court of
Appeals accepted Radanovic's petition for

negotiated discipline and suspended him
for 30 days, fully stayed in favor of six
months of probation with conditions.
Radanovic undertook a joint representation
without a fee agreement, failed to inform
his clients that a conflict of interest may
arise out of the representation, and continued representing both clients after a
conflict arose. Rules 1.4(b), 1.5(b), 1.7(b)(1),
1.9, and 1.16(a)(1).
In re Monique A. Tovar. Bar No. 1016038.
October 10, 2019. The D.C. Court of Appeals
disbarred Tovar by consent, effective
immediately.
In re Jay S. Weiss. Bar No. 29652. October 17,
2019. The D.C. Court of Appeals suspended
Weiss for 90 days. After Weiss agreed to
represent his client in a civil dispute, he
failed to do any substantive work on the
matter and repeatedly misled his client
about the status of the case. In response
to the client's multiple inquiries into Weiss's
progress, Weiss consistently maintained
that he was advancing the client's interests,
including stating falsely that a suit on
the client's behalf had been filed. Weiss
also told the client that he secured a
$10,000 settlement offer when, in fact,
no settlement offer had been obtained.
Weiss further provided false testimony
before the Ad Hoc Hearing Committee in
an attempt to deceive the committee
about his conversations with the client.
Rules 1.1(a), 1.1(b), 1.3(a), 1.3(c), 1.4(a), 1.4(b),
and 8.4(c).

suspended Lakin for two years with fitness,
nunc pro tunc to June 23, 2019. Lakin
committed an act that was "unlawful
or contrary to honesty and justice" by
accepting baseball tickets when he knew
or should have known that it was contrary
to justice to accept tickets from counsel
for a party appearing before him.
In re Lawrence J. Song. Bar No. 266353.
October 3, 2019. In a reciprocal matter
from California, the D.C. Court of Appeals
imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended Song for one year, with all but 60
days stayed, conditioned upon the probationary terms imposed in California. Song
struck another motorist in the head with
an extension cord during a verbal
altercation.
Interim Suspensions Issued by the
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
In re Richard M. Blank.  Bar No. 451935. 
October 10, 2019.  Blank was suspended on
an interim basis based upon discipline
imposed in New York.
In re Clarissa Thomas Edwards. Bar No.
434607. October 11, 2019. Edwards was suspended on an interim basis pursuant to D.C.
Bar R. XI, § 9(g), pending final action on the
Board on Professional Responsibility's recommendation dated July 25, 2019, of a
two-year suspension with fitness.

Reciprocal Matters

In re Kim Y. Johnson-Ball. Bar No. 451982.
November 21, 2019. Johnson-Ball was suspended on an interim basis based upon
discipline imposed in Maryland.

In re John F. Lakin. Bar No. 474460. October
3, 2019. In a reciprocal matter from Florida,
the D.C. Court of Appeals imposed functionally equivalent reciprocal discipline and

In re Evan J. Krame. Bar No. 370772. October
15, 2019. Krame was suspended on an
interim basis pursuant to D.C. Bar R. XI,
§ 9(g), pending final action on the Board

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46 WASHINGTON LAWYER

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MARCH/APRIL 2020
Washington Lawyer - March/April 2020

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