In the Matter of: Dwyer-Jones, Suzanne T. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-018-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11516 IN THE MATTER OF SUZANNE T. DWYER-JONES. Suffolk. October 6, 2014. – February 5, 2015. Present: Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ. Attorney at Law, Reciprocal discipline, Suspension, Disability, Inactive status. Information filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on May 16, 2012. A petition to transfer to disability inactive status was heard by Gants, J. Thomas R. Kiley for the respondent. John W. Marshall, Assistant Bar Counsel. SPINA, J. We consider in this case whether an attorney who has been suspended from the practice of law in another jurisdiction based on mental health conditions or substance abuse is subject to reciprocal transfer to disability inactive status in Massachusetts without a separate hearing in Massachusetts to determine her incapacity. See S.J.C. Rule 4:01, § 13 (1), as amended, 435 Mass. 1302 (2002). We conclude that she is. 1. Background. The respondent, Suzanne T. Dwyer-Jones, has been admitted to practice in both Maine and Massachusetts. On March 25, 2013, a final hearing was held before a single justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on a petition filed by the Maine board of overseers of the bar for suspension of the respondent pursuant to Me. Bar R. 7.3(e)(2)(B). That rule permits the board to file a petition directly with the court where it is alleged that “the continued practice of [an] attorney poses a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public,” id., because the attorney is “incapacitated from continuing practice by reason of mental infirmity or addiction to drugs or intoxicants.” Me. Bar R. 7.3(e)(2)(A). After the hearing, at which the respondent was both present and represented by counsel, the Maine single justice found that the respondent “is afflicted with a substantial proclivity for substance abuse and a very serious mental health condition.” He stated: “[T]he combined effects of these conditions clearly produced a substantial incapacity that adversely impacted [the respondent’s] ability to practice law and resulted in a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public. Indeed, . . . she was essentially unable to manage her own affairs, let alone the complex matters involved in the representation of others. The court finds that the incapacitating symptoms of these conditions remain essentially as florid today as they were during […]
In the Matter of: Dwyer-Jones, Suzanne T. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-018-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11516 IN THE MATTER OF SUZANNE T. DWYER-JONES. Suffolk. October 6, 2014. – February 5, 2015. Present: Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ. Attorney at Law, Reciprocal discipline, Suspension, Disability, Inactive status. Information filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on May 16, 2012. A petition to transfer to disability inactive status was heard by Gants, J. Thomas R. Kiley for the respondent. John W. Marshall, Assistant Bar Counsel. SPINA, J. We consider in this case whether an attorney who has been suspended from the practice of law in another jurisdiction based on mental health conditions or substance abuse is subject to reciprocal transfer to disability inactive status in Massachusetts without a separate hearing in Massachusetts to determine her incapacity. See S.J.C. Rule 4:01, § 13 (1), as amended, 435 Mass. 1302 (2002). We conclude that she is. 1. Background. The respondent, Suzanne T. Dwyer-Jones, has been admitted to practice in both Maine and Massachusetts. On March 25, 2013, a final hearing was held before a single justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on a petition filed by the Maine board of overseers of the bar for suspension of the respondent pursuant to Me. Bar R. 7.3(e)(2)(B). That rule permits the board to file a petition directly with the court where it is alleged that “the continued practice of [an] attorney poses a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public,” id., because the attorney is “incapacitated from continuing practice by reason of mental infirmity or addiction to drugs or intoxicants.” Me. Bar R. 7.3(e)(2)(A). After the hearing, at which the respondent was both present and represented by counsel, the Maine single justice found that the respondent “is afflicted with a substantial proclivity for substance abuse and a very serious mental health condition.” He stated: “[T]he combined effects of these conditions clearly produced a substantial incapacity that adversely impacted [the respondent’s] ability to practice law and resulted in a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public. Indeed, . . . she was essentially unable to manage her own affairs, let alone the complex matters involved in the representation of others. The court finds that the incapacitating symptoms of these conditions remain essentially as florid today as they were during […]
In the Matter of: Dwyer-Jones, Suzanne T. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-018-15)
NOTICE: All slip opinions and orders are subject to formal revision and are superseded by the advance sheets and bound volumes of the Official Reports. If you find a typographical error or other formal error, please notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Judicial Court, John Adams Courthouse, 1 Pemberton Square, Suite 2500, Boston, MA, 02108-1750; (617) 557-1030; SJCReporter@sjc.state.ma.us SJC-11516 IN THE MATTER OF SUZANNE T. DWYER-JONES. Suffolk. October 6, 2014. – February 5, 2015. Present: Spina, Cordy, Botsford, Duffly, Lenk, & Hines, JJ. Attorney at Law, Reciprocal discipline, Suspension, Disability, Inactive status. Information filed in the Supreme Judicial Court for the county of Suffolk on May 16, 2012. A petition to transfer to disability inactive status was heard by Gants, J. Thomas R. Kiley for the respondent. John W. Marshall, Assistant Bar Counsel. SPINA, J. We consider in this case whether an attorney who has been suspended from the practice of law in another jurisdiction based on mental health conditions or substance abuse is subject to reciprocal transfer to disability inactive status in Massachusetts without a separate hearing in Massachusetts to determine her incapacity. See S.J.C. Rule 4:01, § 13 (1), as amended, 435 Mass. 1302 (2002). We conclude that she is. 1. Background. The respondent, Suzanne T. Dwyer-Jones, has been admitted to practice in both Maine and Massachusetts. On March 25, 2013, a final hearing was held before a single justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court on a petition filed by the Maine board of overseers of the bar for suspension of the respondent pursuant to Me. Bar R. 7.3(e)(2)(B). That rule permits the board to file a petition directly with the court where it is alleged that “the continued practice of [an] attorney poses a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public,” id., because the attorney is “incapacitated from continuing practice by reason of mental infirmity or addiction to drugs or intoxicants.” Me. Bar R. 7.3(e)(2)(A). After the hearing, at which the respondent was both present and represented by counsel, the Maine single justice found that the respondent “is afflicted with a substantial proclivity for substance abuse and a very serious mental health condition.” He stated: “[T]he combined effects of these conditions clearly produced a substantial incapacity that adversely impacted [the respondent’s] ability to practice law and resulted in a substantial threat of irreparable harm to the public. Indeed, . . . she was essentially unable to manage her own affairs, let alone the complex matters involved in the representation of others. The court finds that the incapacitating symptoms of these conditions remain essentially as florid today as they were during […]