In re Hicks

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court approves a conditional agreement for discipline arising from the respondent's guilty pleas to carrying a handgun without a license and operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The court suspends the respondent from practicing law for 180 days, followed by two years of probation with monitoring and specified conditions.

Holdings

1. Respondent's criminal conduct violated Indiana Professional Conduct Rule 8.4(b), which prohibits committing a criminal act that reflects adversely on a lawyer's trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer.
2. The court approved the conditional agreement and suspended Respondent from the practice of law for 180 days, all actively served, followed by two years of probation with JLAP monitoring and automatic reinstatement conditioned on compliance with probation.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the court should approve the parties' Statement of Circumstances and Conditional Agreement for Discipline.
2. What discipline was appropriate for Respondent's violation of Indiana Professional Conduct Rule 8.4(b).

Disposition

approved