Posted 12:04 am Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Two Attorneys Reprimanded By State Bar
By DAYNA WORCHEL
Staff Writer
Two attorneys who practice in Tyler have been publicly reprimanded and ordered to pay fines to the State Bar of Texas for offenses including making “knowingly false” comments to a Smith County judge and not keeping clients properly informed about the progress of their cases.
Staff Writer
Two attorneys who practice in Tyler have been publicly reprimanded and ordered to pay fines to the State Bar of Texas for offenses including making “knowingly false” comments to a Smith County judge and not keeping clients properly informed about the progress of their cases.
According to information received from the State Bar of Texas, Lenis Pierce III, 55, was publicly reprimanded in July for making comments to Judge Kerry Russell of the 7th District Court while he defended a motion to revoke his client's probation in Russell's court. He told Russell that he had “betrayed the people of this country and that their blood was on his hands.”
Pierce went on to say in court that he did not know how Russell “slept at night knowing what he had done and the lives of the people he had ruined … if you can live with that in my personal opinion I think you should resign. That's what I would call for and that's what I think you should do,” Pierce said, according to the complaint the State Bar received.
In addition to the public sanction of July 25, Pierce, of Lindale, will have to pay $2,000 in attorney's fees and court costs to the State Bar.
Pierce is ineligible to practice law in Texas because of several administrative sanctions against him, Kim Davey, spokeswoman for the organization, said.
Pierce is ineligible to practice law in Texas because of several administrative sanctions against him, Kim Davey, spokeswoman for the organization, said.
“Mr. Pierce is currently suspended for failure to pay bar dues and occupation tax, effective Sept. 1, 2011. He would need to pay his dues and taxes in order to be eligible to practice law,” Ms. Davey said in a statement. Pierce also was suspended for failing to comply with continuing education requirements on Dec. 31, 2010, and was reinstated on March 4, 2011, Ms. Davey said.
Pierce did not return two calls seeking comment on the public reprimand.
Pierce did not return two calls seeking comment on the public reprimand.
Pierce challenged Smith County District Attorney Matt Bingham for his seat in the 2010 election, and was considered ineligible for a time because he had not complied with some minimum continuing education requirements.
Mitchell D. Collins, 42, of Tyler, received a 30-month, fully probated sentence effective Nov. 1 from the State Bar.
Mitchell D. Collins, 42, of Tyler, received a 30-month, fully probated sentence effective Nov. 1 from the State Bar.
In two instances, Collins failed to adequately communicate with two clients during the course of representation, according to information received from the State Bar. Collins also failed to return the unearned fee to one of the complainants.
A phone number listed for Collins was disconnected.
He was ordered to pay $3,000 in attorney’s fees and $5,750 in restitution to the two women, according to the information from the State Bar. In one of the cases, a woman had paid $750 to Collins to represent her in a personal injury case. In the other instance, a woman had paid Collins $5,000 to represent her in an adoption.
A phone number listed for Collins was disconnected.
He was ordered to pay $3,000 in attorney’s fees and $5,750 in restitution to the two women, according to the information from the State Bar. In one of the cases, a woman had paid $750 to Collins to represent her in a personal injury case. In the other instance, a woman had paid Collins $5,000 to represent her in an adoption.
