ROBERT N. TRAINOR V. KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
'~Uyr:~Mr (~Vurf of ~Rr
2010-SC-000201-KB
MOVANT
ROBERT N . TRAINOR
IN SUPREME COURT
V.
KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
RESPONDENT
OPINION AND ORDER
Robert N. Trainor, KBA No . 71335, was admitted to the practice of law on
October 1, 1976, and his bar roster address is 618 Washington Street,
Covington, Kentucky 41011 . He moves this Court to impose the sanction of a
thirty-day suspension from the practice of law to be probated for one year
provided that he incur no other disciplinary charges during that period and
that he attend the entire KBA Ethics and Professionalism Enhancement
Program for which he will claim no CLE credit . The KBA has no objection to
the motion, as the parties have agreed to a negotiated sanction pursuant to
SCR 3 .480(2) .
KBA File 10677
Trainor's client, Dianna O'Keefe, an independent contractor, was injured
when she was struck by a tow motor while she inspected a shipment for export
at North American Refractories on October 1, 1998 . Trainor initially sought to
recover from O'Keefe's automobile policy insurer under the Motor Vehicle
Reparations Act. However, on November 18, 1998, the insurance company
denied the claim, stating that O'Keefe's injuries were not covered under the
MVRA, as the act does not define a "tow motor" as a "motor vehicle." Trainor
informed the insurance company that he disagreed with its denial of the claim
on November 27, 1998, but took no further action under the MVRA.
In March 1999, Trainor sent a letter to the adjuster for the Refractories'
insurance company with a copy of her medical release and a letter to O'Keefe
notifying her of said correspondence. Trainor took no further action on the
case until September 27, 2000, when he filed suit in Pendleton County Circuit
Court (where venue was improper) which was dismissed with prejudice on the
ground that the suit was filed after the expiration of the one-year statute of
limitations for a non-MVRA personal injury case.
The KBA charged Trainor with violating SCR 3 .130-1 .3 for failing to "act
with reasonable diligence and promptness in representing a client" for his
failure to diligently prosecute O'Keefe's action .
Trainor also failed to maintain adequate professional liability insurance
as required by SCR 3 .024 from 2002-2005. As a result, the KBA charged him
with violating SCR 3 .130-3 .4(c) for "knowingly or intentionally disobey[ing] an
obligation under the rules of a tribunal . . . ."
KBA File 13148
Another of Trainor's clients, Tracy Stanley, delivered a stillborn baby on
May 1, 2000 . Trainor represented Stanley as administratrix of her stillborn
child's estate . He filed a medical malpractice suit against Dr. Jean Burchell on
April 23, 2001 which was voluntarily dismissed by agreement of the parties on
October 22, 2002 . Almost a year later, on September 25, 2003, Trainor again
filed a medical malpractice suit against Dr. Burchell on behalf of Stanley. Dr.
Burchell defended this suit alleging a lack of probable cause and the expiration
of the one-year statute of limitations and the suit was voluntarily dismissed
with prejudice by agreement of the parties on November 26, 2003 .
In Count I, the KBA charged Trainor with violating SCR 3 .130-3 .1, which
provides that "[a] lawyer shall not knowingly bring or defend a proceeding, or
assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis for doing so that is
not frivolous . . . ." Trainor violated this rule when he brought a frivolous
action against Dr. Burchell. Count II charged him of violating SCR 3 .130-3 .4(c)
which provides that a lawyer shall not "knowingly or intentionally disobey an
obligation under the rules of a tribunal except for an open refusal based on a
assertion that no valid obligation exists." He violated this rule when he
disobeyed Civil Rule 11 by filing the medical malpractice suit against Dr.
Burchell significantly beyond the statute of limitations.
Negotiated Sanction
Trainor admits that his misconduct in these matters constituted a
violation of SCR 3 .130-1 .3, SCR 3 .130-3.1 and two counts of SCR 3 .130-3 .4(c) .
He and the KBA have agreed to a negotiated sanction pursuant to SCR 3 .480(2)
and he now requests this Court to impose a thirty-day suspension from the
practice of law to be probated for one year provided he incurs no other
disciplinary charges during that period and conditioned upon his attendance at
the entire KBA Ethics and Professionalism Enhancement Program for which he
will claim no CLE credit .
In its response, the KBA contends that the recommended discipline is
appropriate and supported by Kentucky case law . For example, in Kentucky
Bar Association v. Leadingham, 269 S .W.3d 419 (Ky. 2008), the attorney filed
an appeal for a client, but failed to file a brief (as he had also done in another
case) . Leadingham informed the Court of Appeals that the case had been
settled and indicated that he would tender an agreed order of dismissal, but
failed to do so . The action was dismissed . While Leadingham signed the
receipt for the certified mailings of a disciplinary complaint, a reminder letter,
and his charges, he neither provided any information nor filed a response in
the disciplinary matter. The Court found him guilty of violating SCR 3 .130 3.4(c) and SCR 3 .130-8 .1(b) and suspended him from the practice of law for
thirty days, probated on the condition that he attend EPEP .
In Kentucky Bar Association v. Quesinberry, 203 S .W .3d 137 (Ky. 2006),
Quesinberry filed a notice of appeal on behalf of her clients, but failed to file a
brief, resulting in the dismissal of the appeal . Quesinberry also failed to inform
her clients of the status of their appeal and failed to respond to their requests
for information . The appeal was reinstated after a pro se motion by the clients
asking the court to reconsider its denial of the motion to reinstate. This Court
found Quesinberry guilty of: failing to act with reasonable diligence and
promptness in representing a client, in violation of SCR 3 .130-1 .3; failing to
communicate with her clients, in violation of SCR 3 .130-1 .4(a) ; and disobeying
obligations to a tribunal in violation of SCR 3.130-3 .4(c) . The Court had issued
a private reprimand against her for similar conduct in 2005. She was publicly
reprimanded for her conduct and suspended from the practice of law for thirty
days, probated for one year provided she attended remedial ethics training.
The KBA also considered Trainor's prior disciplinary offenses as an
aggravating factor. In February 2009, this Court imposed a reciprocal public
reprimand on Trainor after he was publicly reprimanded in Ohio in 2006 for
failing to inform a client in 2002 that his professional liability coverage had
been cancelled two years earlier. While Kentucky's Rules of Professional
Conduct do not include a like provision, SCR 3 .130-3 .4(c) prohibits a lawyer
from knowingly or intentionally disobeying an obligation under the rules of a
tribunal, and Trainor disobeyed an obligation under the rules of the Ohio
Supreme Court. Additionally, Trainor was charged in 2003 by Ohio's Board of
Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline with failing to maintain accurate
records for client fund accounts. For this violation, the Ohio Supreme Court
imposed a six-month suspension which was stayed on the condition that he
occasionally provide accountings of his funds to a disciplinary counsel
investigator. This Court imposed a reciprocal suspension in October 2004
which was suspended so long as Trainor obeyed the conditions of the Ohio
Supreme Court.
Discipline
Agreeing that the negotiated sanction proposed in Trainor's motion is
appropriate, it is ORDERED that :
1 . Robert Trainor shall be suspended from the practice of law for thirty
days, probated for one year provided he incurs no other disciplinary
charge during that time period;
2 . Trainor shall attend the entire KBA Ethics and Professionalism
Enhancement Program (EPEP), which is anticipated to be seven hours,
within one year of the date of this Order;
3 . Trainor will not apply for Continuing Legal Education credit of any kind
for his attendance at the EPEP. He will furnish a release and waiver to
the Office of Bar Counsel to review his records of the CLE Department
that might otherwise be confidential, such release to continue in effect
until after he completes his remedial education, in order to allow the
Office of Bar Counsel to verify that he has not reported any hours to the
CLE Commission that are to be taken as remedial education.
4 . If Trainor fails to comply with any of the terms of discipline as set forth
herein, the Office of Bar Counsel may petition the Court to impose the
full thirty-day suspension; and
5 . In accordance with SCR 3 .450, Trainor shall pay all costs associated
with these proceedings, said sum being 402 .35, for which execution
may issue from this Court upon finality of this Opinion and Order.
All sitting. Minton, C .J . ; Abramson, Cunningham, Noble, Scott, and
Venters, JJ., concur. Schroder, JJ ., dissents.
ENTERED : May 20, 2010 .
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.
