Supreme Court suspends attorneys for failure to pay Disciplinary Commission

The Indiana Supreme Court handed down three attorney suspensions last week, including two against attorneys who have failed to reimburse the court’s Disciplinary Commission for the costs of prosecuting them.

In one of the three orders handed down Friday, Marion attorney Beau Jack White was suspended from the practice of law “for failure to satisfy costs ordered in connection with certain proceedings under Indiana Admission and Discipline Rule 23.”

In June 2016, a show cause order was sent to White directing him to show why he should not be immediately suspended for failure to cooperate with an investigation by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission. The following July, the motion was dismissed as moot after the commission received a response that was “in substantial compliance with the Commission’s original demand for a response to the grievance.” White was ordered to reimburse the commission $526.84 for the costs of prosecuting the disciplinary proceedings.

However, Friday’s suspension order shows that White failed to pay those costs by the Oct. 1 deadline, leading to his suspension, effective 15 days after the order was handed down. White can file a petition for reinstatement pursuant to Admission and Discipline Rule 2(h), but his petition will be granted only if the court finds that he is eligible and if there are no other suspensions in effect. According to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys, another disciplinary action against White is currently pending.

White has previously been suspended for failure to pay disciplinary fines. The Supreme Court suspended him June 16, 2015, for failure to reimburse the disciplinary commission $512.22, as ordered in March 2014. The court reinstated White on June 23, 2015, after the costs were paid in full.

Similarly, Elwood attorney Veronica Roby was suspended Friday for failure to reimburse the commission $526.96. A show cause order was brought against Roby in January 2016 after she failed to cooperate with a grievance investigation, but that order was dismissed the following February with an order that she reimburse the $526.96.

Like White, Roby missed the Oct. 1 deadline to reimburse the commission, so her suspension goes into effect 15 days after the Friday order. She can petition for reinstatement pursuant to Admission and Discipline Rule 2(h).

Finally, the court suspended Mishawka attorney Fronse Smith on Friday for noncooperation with a Disciplinary Commission investigation. The justices issued a show cause order in February, which Smith has failed to respond to, prompting his immediate suspension that will remain in effect until he cooperates or until further order of the court.

The northern Indiana attorney is already under suspension in a previous disciplinary action, according to the Friday order. The court wrote that Smith must continue fulfilling the duties of a suspended attorney in that case, which is still pending, and that he must reimburse the commission $519.71 for the costs of prosecuting the proceeding.