MEMBERS JONATHAN E. LAUDERBACH CHAIRPERSON MICHAEL B. RIZIK, JR. VICE-CHAIRPERSON BARBARA WILLIAMS FORNEY SECRETARY JAMES A. FINK JOHN W. INHULSEN
KAREN D. O’DONOGHUE LINDA S. HOTCHKISS, MD MICHAEL S. HOHAUSER PETER A. SMIT
STATE OF MICHIGAN ATTORNEY DISCIPLINE BOARD
333 WEST FORT STREET, SUITE 1700
MARK A. ARMITAGE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR — WENDY A. NEELEY DEPUTY DIRECTOR — KAREN M. DALEY ASSOCIATE COUNSEL — SHERRY MIFSUD OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR —
ALLYSON M. PLOURDE CASE MANAGER OWEN R. MONTGOMERY CASE MANAGER — JULIE M. LOISELLE RECEPTIONIST/SECRETARY —
DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226-3147
PHONE: 313-963-5553 FAX: 313-963-5571
www.adbmich.org
NOTICE OF DISBARMENT (By Consent)
Case No. 12-96-RD Notice Issued: May 18, 2020 Sylvia A. James, P 30118, Inkster, Michigan, by the Attorney Discipline Board Tri-County Hearing Panel #26.
Disbarred, Effective July 31, 2012. 1 In a reciprocal discipline proceeding filed pursuant to MCR 9.120(C), the Grievance Administrator filed a certified copy of an Order removing the Honorable Sylvia James from office entered by the Supreme Court on July 31, 2012, in a matter titled In Re James, 492 Mich 553; 821 NW2d 144 (2012). Tri-County Hearing Panel #26 subsequently determined to hold the matter in abeyance pending certain decisions to be made by the court in James v Hampton, et al, US District Court (ED Ml), Case No. 2:12-cv-10273. The panel required the parties to provide periodic joint status reports beginning in May 2013 through September 2019. The parties’ last joint status report indicated that the U.S. District Court (ED MI) entered an order on June 26, 2019, resolving the last pending claim before that court.
Thereafter, respondent and the Grievance Administrator filed a stipulation for a consent order of discipline, in accordance with MCR 9.115(F)(5), which was approved by the Attorney Grievance Commission and accepted by the hearing panel. The stipulation contained respondent’s admissions that she was removed from office pursuant to the July 31, 2012 order of the Michigan Supreme Court, and her acknowledgment that pursuant to that order, misconduct was conclusively established and that disbarment constituted comparable discipline in Michigan. Costs were assessed in the amount of $1,064.22.
/s/ Mark A. Armitage Executive Director
1 The effective date of the order was made retroactive to the date respondent was removed from office by the Michigan Supreme Court, as stipulated by the parties.