NOTICE OF SUSPENSION (By Consent)
Case No. 99-009-GA Gregory L. Wilkins, P-44281, Detroit, Michigan, by Attorney Discipline Board Tri-County Hearing Panel #29.
1) Suspension - 180 Days; 2) Effective June 8, 2001. Respondent has been continuously suspended from the practice of law in Michigan since September 25, 1997. On March 17, 1998, an appearance of counsel was filed for the plaintiff in a civil matter in the Michigan Court of Appeals Docket No. 210075, naming a certain attorney as counsel for the plaintiff. On April 18, 1998, the attorney filed an affidavit with the Court of Appeals advising that she had not been appointed or retained to represent the plaintiff in the matter. The affidavit further advised that the signatures which appeared on the Claim of Appeal and the Affidavit in Support were not hers, and she did not authorize anyone to sign her name to either document. On May 18, 1998, the Court of Appeals entered an Order removing the attorney as the counsel of record in the matter.
Respondent pled no contest to the following allegations: On February 27, 1998, without her knowledge or consent, he signed the aforementioned attorney's name to the Claim of Appeal and the Affidavit in Support of the Claim of Appeal to make it appear that the attorney was entering an appearance as the attorney for the plaintiff; and, on March 4, 1998, he advised the attorney, in writing, that he had signed her name instead of his own to the Claim of Appeal and the Affidavit because he was not authorized to practice law. Respondent pled no contest to charges that his conduct violated MCR 9.104(1)-(4) and (9); MCR 9.123(A); and Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct 3.3(a)(1) and (4); and 8.4(a)-(c).
The parties stipulated that respondent be suspended from the practice of law in Michigan for a period of 180 days commencing June 8, 2001. Costs were assessed in the amount of $177.24.