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STATE OF MINNESOTA IN SUPREME COURT A09-472

Original Jurisdiction In re Petition for Disciplinary Action against Thomas John Lyons, Jr., a Minnesota Attorney, Registration No. 249646. ________________________

Per Curiam

Filed: April 8, 2010 Office of Appellate Courts

Martin A. Cole, Director, Timothy M. Burke, Senior Assistant Director, Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility, St. Paul, Minnesota, for petitioner. Eric T. Cooperstein, Minneapolis, Minnesota, for respondent attorney. ________________________ SYLLABUS Indefinite suspension with no right to petition for reinstatement for a minimum of 12 months is the appropriate discipline for a lawyer who was untruthful to opposing counsel about whether his client died before or after counsel reached agreement on terms of a settlement, was untruthful to the Director, to opposing counsel, and during testimony before the referee about when he learned of his client's death, and had a substantial disciplinary history. OPINION PER CURIAM. In March 2009, the Director of the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility (Director) served and filed a petition for disciplinary action against respondent Thomas 1

Lyons, Jr. The Director alleged that Lyons' failure to disclose his client's death during settlement negotiations and false and misleading statements made to opposing counsel and to the Director about the client's death constituted unprofessional conduct warranting public discipline. Lyons served and filed a general denial. Pursuant to Rule 14 of the Minnesota Rules on Lawyers Professional Responsibility (RLPR), a referee hearing was held, after which the referee filed findings of fact, conclusions of law, and a recommendation for discipline with our court. The referee recommended that Lyons be indefinitely suspended from the practice of law in the State of Minnesota with no right to petition for reinstatement for a minimum of 12 months. recommended discipline. Lyons was admitted to practice law in Minnesota on October 28, 1994. At all times relevant to these proceedings, Lyons was engaged in the practice of law at a law firm known as the Consumer Justice Center, P.A., in Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. Lyons has been disciplined on seven previous occasions. In December of 1998, Lyons was both admonished and placed on private probation for separate incidents of misconduct; in 2001, he was publicly reprimanded and placed on probation for two years; in 2002, Lyons was admonished; and he was again admonished in 2005. In addition, Lyons received two separate amended admonitions in 2007. Lyons' previous discipline resulted from material misrepresentations, prosecuting frivolous claims, and failure to follow appropriate procedure. In 2006, Lyons was retained by a man who had been erroneously reported by Trans Union, LLC, a credit reporting agency, to be dead. 2 In September 2006, a We adopt the referee's

complaint

against

Trans

Union

under

the

Fair

Credit

Reporting

Act,

15

U.S.C.

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