KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION V. ERIC LAMAR EMERSON
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
TO BE PUBLISHED
,*uyrrm
AT
Nu'llurf of
2008-SC-000732-KB
KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
V.
IN SUPREME COURT
ERIC LAMAR EMERSON
RESPONDENT
OPINION AND ORDER
The Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association has
unanimously recommended to this Court that Respondent, Eric Lamar
Emerson, who was admitted to practice law in Kentucky in October 2002,
whose Bar Roster Address is Gateway Center West, 300 Madison Ave., Suite
200, Covington, Kentucky 4101 .1, and whose KBA Member Number is 89553,
be suspended! from the practice of law for 61 days .
The Charge against Emerson stems from his failure to file two motions
for shock probation in the Kenton County Circuit Court after his client paid
him to do so . The client and others repeatedly tried to contact him about this
matter to no avail, and the client instead filed his own pro se requests for
shock probation. The time to file these motions had expired, and they were
denied.
Prior to the Charge being issued in this case, the Bar Complaint was
served upon Emerson by the Kenton County Sheriff on April 2, 2008. Emerson
made no response to the Bar Complaint . The Inquiry Commission issued a
five-count Charge against Emerson on May 6, 2008 . The five counts alleged
that Emerson violated SCR 3 .130-1 .1 (competence), I SCR 3 .130-1 .3
(diligence),2 SCR 3.130-1 .4(a) (communication),3 SCR 3 .130-1 .16(d) (failure to
take reasonable steps to protect client's interest upon termination of
representation), 4 and SCR 3 .130-8 .1(b) (failure to respond to demand from
disciplinary authority) .5 Emerson signed a certified mail return receipt for the
Charge on May 9, 2008, and a reminder letter was mailed to him on July 18,
2008 . No Answer to the Charge was ever filed .
Since Emerson did not answer the Charge and he did not appear before
the Board of Governors, this Charge proceeded as a default case pursuant to
SCR 3.210(1) . The Board voted 15 to 0 to find Emerson guilty of Counts I to IV
(violations of SCR 3 .130-1 .1, 3 .130-1 .3, 3 .130-1 .4(a), and 3 .130-1 .16(4)) . The
1 SCR 3 .130-1 .1 provides : "A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a
client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and
preparation reasonably necessary for the representation ."
2 SCR 3.130-1 .3 provides : "A lawyer shall act with reasonable diligence and
promptness in representing a client."
3 SCR 3 .130-1 .4(a) provides : "A lawyer should keep a client reasonably informed
about the status of a matter and promptly comply with reasonable requests for
information ."
4 SCR 3 .130-1 .16(d) provides : "Upon termination of representation, a lawyer
shall take steps to the extent reasonably practicable to protect a client's interests,
such as giving reasonable notice to the client, allowing time for employment of other
counsel, surrendering papers and property to which the client is entitled and
refunding any advance payment of fee that has not been earned ."
5 SCR 3.130-8 .1(b) provides : ". . . [A] lawyer . . . in connection with a
disciplinary matter, shall not:
(b) Fail to disclose a fact necessary to correct a misapprehension known by the
person to have arisen in the matter, or knowingly fail to respond to a lawful demand
for information from . . . [a] disciplinary authority . . . ."
2
Board also voted 14 to 1 to find Emerson guilty of Count V (violation of SCR
3 .130-8 .1(b)) .
The Board of Governors then co sidered the prior discipline of Emerson .
On August 28, 2008, this Court publicly reprimanded Emerson for his
violations of SCR 3 .1 30-1 .16(d), 3 .130-8 . l. (b), and 3 .130-3 .4(c) . See Kentucky
Bar Assn v. Emerson, 260 S .W.2d 782 (Ky. 2008). After considering this prior
discipline, the Board of Governors voted unanimously to recommend that
Emerson be suspended from the practice of law for 61 days .
Neither Emerson nor Bar Counsel has filed a notice pursuant to SCR
3 .370(8) for this Court to review the Board's decision, and we do not elect to
review the decision of the Board pursuant to SCR 3 .370(9). This Court sees no
reason not to accept the Board's recommendation, and the decision of the
Board is hereby adopted pursuant to SCR 3.370(10) .
ACCORDINGLY, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
1.
Respondent, Eric Lamar Emerson, is suspended from the practice
of law for 61 days for violating SCR 3.130-1 .1, SCR 3 .130-1 .3, SCR 3.1301 .4(a), SCR 3.130-1 .16(d), and SCR 3.130-8 .1(b) .
2.
Pursuant to SCR 3 .390, Respondent is directed to notify in writing
all clients and all courts in which he has matters pending of his inability to
practice law, within ten days from the date of entry of this Opinion and Order.
Respondent is further directed to furnish copies of said letters of notice to the
Director of the Kentucky Bar Association.
3.
Respondent shall without delay, to the extent reasonably possible,
cancel and cease any advertising activities in which he is engaged .
3
In accordance with SCR 3 .450, Respondent is directed to pay all
costs associated with these disciplinary proceedings in the amount of $449.42,
for which execution may issue from the
All sitting. All concur.
ENTERED : December 18, 2008 .
urt upon finality of this Order.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
