Indiana Supreme Court reinstates 1 attorney, suspends 2

A lawyer previously charged with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars has been reinstated to the practice of law in Indiana while two other attorneys have been suspended, the Indiana Supreme Court announced Wednesday.

Indy attorney reinstated

The high court on Wednesday agreed to reinstate Indianapolis attorney Adam S. Mears to the practice of law following his resignation in October 2016 after he was indicted for five counts of wire fraud.

Mears was accused of embezzling $648,219 from a First American Title Insurance Co. office he co-owned in Indianapolis by using the username and password of another employee to create false user accounts.

The government said Mears was required to maintain an escrow account that was to pay only expenses associated with real estate closings, but he was alleged to have taken money from those accounts to pay business and personal expenses.

Mears pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to make restitution of $236,419.66 to Illinois-based First American Title Insurance Co.

The high court found in its Wednesday order that Mears, after being barred from applying for reinstatement for five years, had proven by clear and convincing evidence that his petition should be granted.

“Further, the parties stipulate that Petitioner has made full restitution to the victim of his misconduct,” Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote in the nearly unanimous Supreme Court order, with Justice Steven David dissenting.

Mears is ordered to pay $2,950.28 for the costs of the proceeding.

Two attorneys disciplined

Michael O. Murray, a Lexington, Kentucky, attorney, received a reciprocal discipline from the Indiana Supreme Court justices in a Wednesday order.

The Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission filed a “Notice of Foreign Discipline and Petition for Issuance of an Order to Show Cause,” advising that Murray was disciplined by the Kentucky Supreme Court and requesting that reciprocal discipline be imposed in Indiana.

For its part, the Kentucky Supreme Court found Murray’s conduct violated that jurisdiction’s rules of professional conduct and suspended him from the practice of law there for one year.

When Murray failed to respond to the Indiana justices’ March 17 “Order to Show Cause,” the high court found no reason why reciprocal discipline should not be issued. It therefore ordered that Murray also be suspended from the practice of law in Indiana, but for 60 days, effective immediately.

Murray is ordered to fulfill all of the duties of a suspended attorney under Admission and Discipline Rule 23(26). He will be automatically reinstated to the practice of law in the Hoosier state as long as there are no other Indiana suspensions in effect.

The Indiana Supreme Court also disciplined New Castle attorney Martin R. Shields for violating Indiana Professional Conduct Rule 8.4(b) after he was convicted of Level 6 felony possession of methamphetamine.

Shields, 67, pleaded guilty to the drug-related felony after he twice provided meth to a confidential informant.

Shields has no prior disciplinary history and voluntarily entered into a monitoring agreement with the Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program to address factors contributing to his misconduct, according to the order.

The split high court ultimately suspended Shields from the practice of law for a period of 150 days, beginning Aug. 31, with 120 days actively served and the remainder stayed subject to completion of at least two years of probation with continued JLAP monitoring.

Shields’ probation shall remain in effect until it is terminated pursuant to a petition to terminate probation filed under Admission and Discipline Rule 23(16), according to the order. The costs of the proceedings are assessed against him in the amount of $257.53.

Rush and Justice Mark Massa dissented, believing the sanction against Shields to be insufficient.