DAYTON — A Dayton attorney is facing a suspension from the Ohio Supreme Court.
According to a release the Supreme Court suspended Clinton Wilcoxson II after he failed to file an appeal in a criminal case and then lied to his clients about the matter.
Wilcoxson was suspended for two years with 18 months stayed with conditions.
According to release, Wilcoxson was hired by Scott and Lori O’Connor to appeal a criminal conviction for their son, Daniel, in January 2019. The O’Connors paid $3,000 up front and agreed to pay the remaining $2,000 in monthly installments.
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Wilcoxson filed his client’s notice of appeal, but did not file the required brief in time, nor did he seek a deadline extension. In March 2019, the court of appeals ordered Wilcoxson to either file his client’s brief in 14 days or explain why the case should not be dismissed. Records showed that Wilcoxson did not tell his client about the court’s order and took no action, leading the court to dismiss the appeal.
When the O’Connors reached out to Wilcoxson in June about the status of the case, he told Lori O’Conner that he had experienced medical difficulties and failed to file the brief. Instead of refunding the clients, they made the decision to have Wilcoxson file a request to reopen the appeal.
While Wilcoxson prepared a motion to reopen the appeal and a brief, he never filed them. Wilcoxson then lied to his clients and said the motion was submitted and the he had not received a return from the court.
Daniel Wilcoxson’s new attorney was able to reopen his appeal in October 2019 and Wilcoxson refunded the O’Connors the $3,300 they had paid him.
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In August 2020, records showed the Office of Disciplinary Counsel filed a complaint with the Board of Professional Conduct, charging Wilcoxson several rules violations in connection to the O’Connors’ case.
The Court unanimously agreed on Wilcoxson’s suspension. He must serve a one-year period of monitored probation once he is reinstated.
This was not the first time the Supreme Court has suspended Wilcoxson. In July 2018, Wilcox was on a conditionally stayed six-month suspension after the Court found he neglected a client matter, failed to reasonably communicate with the client, failed to return the client’s file and failed to cooperate in the resulting disciplinary investigation.
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