The Supreme Court of Ohio has indefinitely suspended the law license of Dayton attorney  Kevin M. Hunt for multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct while representing a married couple and their daughter who were injured in a traffic accident.

In a 7-0 per curiam decision announced today, the court adopted findings by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances & Discipline  that Hunt accepted employment in the case despite lacking the knowledge or experience to provide competent representation, failed to obtain the assistance of outside counsel or adequately prepare his clients’ case, neglected his clients’ interests by failing to respond to motions for summary judgment filed by both of the defendants in the case, and then lied to his clients over a period of many months by falsely claiming that settlement negotiations  were still underway when in fact the court had dismissed their complaint with prejudice and the statute of limitations for refiling had expired.

In imposing an indefinite license suspension as the appropriate penalty for this misconduct, the court noted the aggravating factors that Hunt was suspended from practice in 2010 for a prior incident in which he neglected entrusted client legal matters, that he acted with a dishonest or selfish motive when he lied to his clients to conceal his neglect and incompetence, and that he failed to acknowledge the wrongful nature of his conduct or express remorse for the significant harm he caused  to vulnerable clients.

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2012-1694. Dayton Bar Assn. v. Hunt, Slip Opinion No. 2013-Ohio-1486.
On Certified Report by the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, No. 11-083.  Kevin Michael Hunt, Attorney Registration No. 0073405, is indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in Ohio.
O’Connor, C.J., and Pfeifer, O’Donnell, Lanzinger, Kennedy, French, and O’Neill, JJ., concur.
Opinion: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/0/2013/2013-Ohio-1486.pdf

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