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,Suprmv Caurf . of
2006-SC-000530-KB
0L
AT
KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION MOVANT
V.
IN SUPREME COURT
BRIAN SCOTT CONLEY RESPONDENT
OPINION AND ORDER
Brian Scott Conley, whose bar roster address is 125 Penmoken Park, Lexington,
Kentucky 40503, was charged with a total of six counts of professional misconduct.
The violations stem from Conley's representation oftwo clients on criminal matters.
Conley admitted the allegations contained in the charges, and the Kentucky Bar
Association and Conley reached an agreement regarding his discipline, which the Board of Governors (the Board) approves and recommends that this Court impose. Conley's KBA Member Number is 85660, and his date of admission to the KBA is May 1, 1995. The KBAopened two files on Conley, KBA File No. 10743 and File No. 11142. As agreed by the parties, the underlying facts and charges are as follows:
I . Facts and Charges
a. KBA File No. 10743
Conley failed to appear for two scheduled court hearings on behalf of a client in Scott District Court. The court issued a summons directing Conley to appear on June
24, 2003, to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court for his failure
to appear on the scheduled court dates. Conley did not appear for the show cause
hearing because he was involved in an automobile accident. Conley maintains that he
called the Scott Circuit Court Clerk to inform the judge that he would not be there, but
the judge states that the message she received from the clerk was that Conley would
be late for court.
The judge held Conley in contempt of court and sentenced him to two days in jail and imposed a fine of $500.00
. The judge probated the jail sentence on the condition that Conley contact the Kentucky Lawyer's Assistance Program (KYLAP) coordinator within seven days.
And the judge relieved Conley from paying the fine on the condition
that he participate in KYLAP for a period of 90 days. Conley agreed to contact the
KYLAP coordinator and participate in KYLAP. However, as of the date of submission to
the Board, the KYLAP director reported that Conley had not made a serious effort to
seek assistance for his problems.
Due to his conduct, the Inquiry Commission charged him with violating SCR 3.130-1 .3 by failing to appear on behalf of his client at scheduled court meetings and SCR 3.130-3.4(c) by knowingly and intentionally failing to appear in the Scott District Court on three separate occasions.
b. KBA File No. 11142 Conley represented Cecil Johnson in Fayette Circuit Court in the case of
Commonwealth v. Cecil Johnson, Case No. 02-CR-00063. In this case, Conley failed to appear on the scheduled trial date of October 13, 2003. Johnson appeared in court on that date and informed the judge that he had spoken to Conley about the case four days earlier, and he had no indication that Conley was not going to appear for the trial .
Thejudge scheduled the case for a status conference on October 17, 2003, for which
Conley also failed to appear. The judge appointed Legal Aid to represent Johnson
because he stated that he had expended all of his moneyto retain Conley.
The presiding Fayette Circuit Court judge filed a bar complaint.
Dueto his conduct, the Inquiry Commission charged him with violating: SCR 3.130-1 .3 by failing to appear on behalf of his client at scheduled court meetings; SCR 3.130-1 .16(d) by abruptly terminating his representation when he did not appear for the trial and status conference and without prior notification to his client ; SCR 3.130-1.5(a) by accepting a fee then failing to appear for scheduled court dates; and SCR 3.130

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