Miss. Bar v. Sims

349 So.3d 179 (Mem)

The MISSISSIPPI BAR

v.Lanesha L. SIMS

No. 2021-BD-01090-SCT

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

APRIL 21, 2022

EN BANC ORDER

JOSIAH DENNIS COLEMAN, JUSTICE

¶1. The Mississippi Bar petitions the Mississippi Supreme Court to place Lanesha L. Sims on disability inactive status and seeks reimbursement for the costs and expenses of the proceedings. We grant in part and deny in part.

¶2. On October 29, 2019, the Social Security Administration declared Lanesha L. Sims disabled and awarded her monthly disability benefits as of June 4, 2019. On November 5, 2020, the Florida Bar placed Sims on its list of inactive lawyers following a joint petition pursuant to the Rules of the Florida Bar. On May 10, 2021, Sims contacted the Mississippi Bar¹ to share her disability inactive status, to announce her retirement from the practice of law, and to seek clarification about how to secure disability inactive status. Pursuant to Rules 13(a) and 20(c) of the Rules of Discipline for the Mississippi Bar, the Bar, having already received notice from Sims, obtained a certified copy of the order imposed in the state of Florida.

The Supreme Court of Mississippi (the Court) has exclusive and inherent jurisdiction of matters pertaining to attorney discipline, reinstatement, and appointment of receivers for suspended and disbarred attorneys, and hereafter such proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with these rules. The court shall be the ultimate judge of matters arising under these rules, and from time to time the Court shall review these rules and amend them when necessary or desirable.

Mississippi Rule of Discipline Rule 20(c) states:

Upon notification from any source that an attorney admitted to practice in the State of Mississippi has been transferred to disability inactive status in another jurisdiction, Complaint Counsel shall obtain a certified copy of the transfer and file it with the Court. A final adjudication in another jurisdiction that an attorney admitted to practice in the State of Mississippi should be transferred to disability inactive status shall establish conclusively the disability for purposes of a disability proceeding in the State of Mississippi The Court shall transfer the attorney to disability inactive status unless the attorney demonstrates or the Court finds that the reason for the original transfer no longer exists. The burden shall be upon the attorney to demonstrate that the reason for the original transfer to disability status no longer exists.

Miss. R. Discipline 20(c).

¶3. We grant the Bar's petition to place Lanesha L. Sims on disability inactive status. Sims voluntarily and correctly contacted the Mississippi Bar regarding her disability, and the Bar received a certified copy of the order and further documentation of her disability from the Social Security Administration. Rule 20(c) provides that the placement of a Mississippi licensed...