Justices convert suspension, revoke automatic reinstatement for Indy attorney

A suspended Indianapolis attorney set to be automatically reinstated to the bar this month must now petition for reinstatement after the Indiana Supreme Court converted his suspension to one without automatic reinstatement.

The Indiana Supreme Court in a Monday order converted Rock C. Lee’s suspension following an objection to automatic reinstatement filed by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.

Lee was suspended from the practice of law in Indiana for 180 days with automatic reinstatement effective Jan. 14 after he misled a criminal defendant he represented in cases located in Dearborn County and Ohio. That suspension was set to expire July 12.

But in its objection, the disciplinary commission reported “a repeated and systemic failure by Respondent to comply with the duties of suspended attorneys under Admission and Discipline Rule 23(26) and with the terms of our disciplinary order.” The Monday order did not provide details about Lee’s “failure.”

Lee was ordered on May 20 to respond to the objection within 10 days, but he failed to do so.  The Supreme Court thus sustained the commission’s objection in In the Matter of: Rock C. Lee, 20S-DI-322.

For Lee’s violations, the justices converted his current suspension to a 180-day suspension without automatic reinstatement, retroactively effective to Jan. 14.

“Respondent is ordered to fulfill the continuing duties of a suspended attorney under Rule 23(26). To be readmitted to the practice of law in this State, Respondent must cure the causes of all suspensions in effect and successfully petition this Court for reinstatement pursuant to Admission and Discipline Rule 23(18)(b),” Chief Justice Loretta Rush wrote for the unanimous Supreme Court.

Lee was admitted to the practice of law in Indiana in 2011. According to the Indiana Roll of Attorneys, he has been the subject of three prior disciplinary actions as well as one pending action.