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The Indiana Supreme Court approved disciplinary action against an attorney for reportedly violating Indiana Professional Conduct Rules when he revealed information about a client without the client’s consent.
The high court accepted a public reprimand for James Lockwood, an attorney at the Lockwood Legal Group in South Bend.
The Indiana Lawyer reached out to Laura Iosue, the lead attorney representing Lockwood, for comment via email and phone call.
According to court documents, a client that Lockwood represented in a protective order case also worked as an unpaid non-attorney assistant for Lockwood for several months.
During the time the client was working for Lockwood, Lockwood gave the client access to a Dropbox cloud storage link containing firm materials and client files.
However, when the client stopped working for Lockwood in January 2023, Lockwood didn’t deactivate the client’s link to the Dropbox, leaving the link active and unsecured through at least May 2024.
On a separate occasion, Lockwood was representing a client in a paternity case when the opposing party filed a grievance against him. In response to the grievance, Lockwood threatened to bring defamation action against them, according to court documents.
When opposing counsel informed Lockwood that the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission decided not to pursue charges based on the grievance, Lockwood said the counsel “lucked out,” according to court records.
The parties in this disciplinary order proposed that a public reprimand would be the most appropriate discipline for Lockwood, and the supreme court agreed.
Lockwood must pay $250 for the costs of the proceeding.
The case is In the Matter of James H. Lockwood, 24S-DI-319.
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