DISCIPLINARY AND ACTIONS AFFECTING ATTORNEYS
(FY 2016)
BABER, Gilbert – Disbarred on October 19, 2015, for having made a series of
misrepresentations over a period of two (2) years in pleadings, verbal statements to his client and
submissions to the District of Columbia Bar Counsel.
BRIGGS, Ronald L., Jr. – Disbarred by Consent on December 16, 2015, effective thirty (30) days
from the date thereof, for failing to represent a client with reasonable diligence, for failing to
communicate, for failing to maintain unearned fees in trust and for engaging in conduct involving
dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
BROWN, Takisha Vera – Disbarred on November 19, 2015 for intentionally misappropriating
client trust funds and for making misrepresentations to Bar Counsel.
BROWN, Warren Anthony – Commission Reprimand for failing to provide competent, diligent
and prompt representation to his client by failing timely to retain an expert to evaluate his client
and by failing to adequately communicate with his client prior to the sentencing to garner
evidence of mitigation to be presented to the court.
COHEN, Nancy A. – Reprimand on November 18, 2015, for representing a client in a lawsuit
against a former client in the same or substantially related matter.
CONTE, Anthony Stephen – Commission Reprimand for failing to timely respond to several
requests for information from Bar Counsel.
COONEY, Bernard J. – Commission Reprimand for failing to maintain unearned fees in trust.
DJORDJEVICH, Alexander – Indefinite Suspension by Consent on September 17, 2015 (with the
right to apply for reinstatement nine (9) months after the date thereof and conditioned upon his
reinstatement in the District of Columbia) for failing to provide competent, diligent and prompt
representation to his clients, for failing to communicate, for failing to timely return unearned fees
and surrender papers after his representation was terminated and for having knowingly disobeyed
an obligation under the rules of a tribunal.
FLYNN, Maria Rebecca – Indefinite Suspension by Consent on August 14, 2015, for failing to
provide competent, diligent and prompt representation to her clients, for failing to keep her
clients informed, for failing to properly maintain an attorney trust account, for charging
unreasonable fees, for failing to refund unearned fees, for failing to keep clients adequately
informed and for making misrepresentations to Bar Counsel.
GALBRAITH, Mark R. – Disbarred on December 16, 2015, as a reciprocal action to his Virginia and
District of Columbia discipline, for misappropriating clients’ funds from his trust account and for failing to safe keep property of clients or third persons.
GLESSNER, Stephen Anthony – Commission Reprimand for failing to provide competent,
diligent and prompt representation to his client, for failing to obtain the client’s informed consent,
confirmed in writing, to deposit an unearned fee paid in advance into an account that was not a
client trust account, for commingling client funds in his operating account and for failing to
ensure that the firm had in effect measures giving reasonable assurance that all lawyers in the
firm handled payments of legal fees in compliance with the rule.
GOLDSTEIN, Gary A. – Commission Reprimand for failing to disclose discovery information to
which the opposing party was entitled.
GOOD, Tamara Renee – Disbarred on November, 6, 2015, by Per Curiam order for failing to
perform legal services for her clients after accepting a retainer, for ignoring her clients’ requests
for information, for abandoning her representation of the clients without notice and for refusing
to respond to Bar Counsel’s requests for information. Opinion issued December 21, 2015.
GRAY, Melissa Donnelle – Disbarred July 27, 2015, for failing to deposit client funds in an
attorney trust account, for failing to prepare for trial, for failing to keep her clients adequately
informed, for charging an unreasonable fee and for failing to return unearned fees after she
abandoned her clients.
GROSS, Ronald James – Indefinite Suspension on November 20, 2015 (with the right to apply
for reinstatement conditioned upon being reinstated in the state of Pennsylvania) for
misrepresenting the status of a contested will to a client and for making a false representation to
the Pennsylvania Bar Counsel.
HALTER, Michael James – Commission Reprimand for making false and misleading statements
with reckless disregard for the truth on his Facebook page concerning the qualifications and/or
integrity of a State’s Attorney. (Cecil County election)
KILLIAN, Walter H. – Disbarred by Consent on July 10, 2015, for failing to render a full
accounting upon request by the client or third person and for engaging in conduct that is
prejudicial to the administration of justice.
KLASS, Michelle E. – Commission Reprimand as a reciprocal action to her reprimand by the
District of Columbia for commingling an advanced fee with her operating funds and for failing to
maintain complete records of trust account funds.
LANGE, Kathryn Anne – Disbarred by Consent on August 21, 2015, for failing to safe keep property of clients or third persons, for misappropriating funds from a deceased client’s estate trust account, for making false statements of material fact to the Orphan’s Court and for engaging in misconduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation.
LINDNER, Don Franklin – Disbarred by Consent on September 24, 2015, for his criminal
conviction related to filing false federal tax returns for tax years 2007 – 2011.
MEIER, Mike – Commission Reprimand, as a reciprocal action to his Virginia sanction, for lack
of candor to a tribunal and for violating or attempting to violate the Maryland Lawyers’ Rules of
Professional Conduct.
MITCHELL, Michael B., Jr. – Disbarred on September 29, 2015 for failing to provide competent
and diligent representation to a client in two matters and for engaging in conduct involving
dishonesty, deceit and/or misrepresentation.
MOORE, Leland C., Jr. – Commission Reprimand for filing a complaint in a jurisdiction that was
related to a case already filed in another jurisdiction, for raising issues that were frivolous and for
using means that had no substantial purpose except to embarrass, delay or burden the opposing
party.
NGARURI, Melissa K. (aka Kenney, Melissa N.) 30-day suspension for holding herself out as
being admitted to the Maryland Bar, while residing in Oregon, after she applied for and was
granted “inactive status” with the Maryland Client Protection Fund of the Bar of Maryland.
NJOGU, Regina Wanjiru – Indefinite Suspension by Consent on October 27, 2015, for causing
her client, who was not fluent in English, to sign an application for a title to a vehicle which
Respondent intended to use as her own, for causing the client to add the vehicle to the client’s
insurance policy, for the negative impact on the client’s vehicle registration due to accidents and
traffic citations incurred by Respondent, which were attributed to the client.
NKWENTI, Theodore Nsoh – Indefinite Suspension on October 20, 2015, effective forty-five
(45) days from the date thereof (with the right to apply for reinstatement six (6) months after the
effective date) for hiring a former attorney who was not licensed to practice law in Maryland, for
failing to enter into an employment agreement with the former attorney and filing notice of said
employment with the Office of Bar Counsel, for failing to properly supervise the former attorney
by allowing him to render legal advice to a client, for charging an unreasonable fee and for
failing to deposit and maintain the client’s funds in trust until earned, without the client’s written
informed consent.
OH-Kang, Seung – Disbarred on October 19, 2015, as a reciprocal action to the revocation of her
license to practice law in Virginia on June 25, 2013, for her criminal conviction involving money
laundering and bank fraud and for conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or
misrepresentation.
PAVLICK, Richard Mark – Indefinite Suspension by Consent on August 31, 2015, effective
September 30, 2015, for failing to safe keep property of clients or third persons, for failing to
maintain adequate trust account records, for commingling funds and for having a negative
balance in his attorney trust account.
RAND, Charles Stephen – Indefinite Suspension on December 22, 2015, for failing to keep his
client informed, for asserting an invalid retaining lien and for failing to comply with requests for
information from Bar Counsel.
REYES, Arcadio Jorge – Disbarred by Consent on July 10, 2015, for failing to safe keep property
of clients or third persons and for failing to deposit unearned fees into an attorney trust account
until earned.
SCOTT, Lloyd Faulkner – Disbarred by Consent on August 10, 2015, for his conflict of interest
relating to his representation of parties without informed consent, confirmed in writing, for
failing to safe keep property of clients or third persons, for misuse of trust funds, for failing to
pay medical care providers in a timely manner, for using an attorney trust account for personal
expenses, for failing to maintain adequate trust account records and for failing to appear for one
or more court dates.
SHAPIRO, Eugene A. – Disbarred by Consent on November 3, 2015, for failing to provide
adequate representation to a client in three legal matters, for failing to keep the client reasonably
informed, for repeatedly misleading and lying to her about the status of the matters and for
knowingly making false statements of material fact to Bar Counsel.
SHEPHARD, Tawana D. – Disbarred on August 6, 2015, for engaging in the unauthorized
practice of law, for her role as Managing Attorney of the law firm at which she was employed,
for failing to provide competent and diligent representation to a client, for failing to
communicate, for failing to earn attorney’s fees, for failing to safe keep property of clients or
third persons and for failing to manage the firm’s trust account.
STORCH, Patricia DuVall – Indefinite Suspension on October 19, 2015, for her conduct as the
Personal Representative of an estate. She failed to make timely filings, failed to attend hearings,
and upon termination as the personal representative, she repeatedly failed to comply with court
orders to turn over all estate property to the successor personal representative.
THOMAS, C. Trent – Disbarred on November 10, 2015, for abandoning his clients in two
unrelated cases and for dishonestly refraining from informing Bar Counsel that he had violated
his conditional diversion agreement.
TRYE, Shauntese Curry – Disbarred on July 27, 2015, for making intentional material
misrepresentations on a loan modification application, for making false representations to
opposing counsel, for fraudulently altering a negotiated draft settlement agreement and consent
order before providing them to opposing party and counsel.
WETZEL, John Clarence – Commission Reprimand for conduct prejudicial to the administration
of justice, because he may have negligently or accidentally downloaded inappropriate images on
his office computer.
WILLIAMS, Garrett Vincent – Disbarred on December 3, 2015, by Per Curiam Order. Court of
Appeals’ opinion will follow.
WILLIAMS, Stephen Jerome – Commission Reprimand for failing to accurately list all of his
client’s assets on Bankruptcy Schedules, for falsely representing to the court that he was in
possession of supporting documents and, upon termination of his representation, for failing to
timely surrender papers and property to which the client was entitled and for contacting the
former client without consent, after the former client retained new counsel.
YOUNG, Matthew Richard – Disbarred on October 20, 2015, for entering into contracts to
perform work on homes of individuals without a valid home improvement license, for
misrepresenting to several parties that he had a valid license, or was operating under his brother’s
license and for filing frivolous lawsuits.