NOTICE OF SUSPENSION Case Nos. 96-190-GA; 96-215-FA Joseph L. Rooney, Jr., P-38218, Jackson, Michigan, by Attorney Discipline Board Washtenaw County Hearing Panel #1.
1) Suspension - Eighteen (18) Months; 2) Effective January 14, 1997. Commencing in December 1992, respondent served as a member of the Michigan Assigned Appellate Counsel System ("MAACS") roster and accepted assignments to represent indigent criminal defendants in post-conviction proceedings. The panel found, by default, that respondent neglected ten MAACS assignments and failed to answer the Formal Complaints. Respondent also failed to appear at the disciplinary hearing.
Respondent's conduct was found to be in violation of MCR 9.104(1)-(4); and Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct 1.1(c); 1.2(a); 1.3; 1.4(a); 3.2; and 8.4(a) and (c).
The panel ordered that respondent be suspended from the practice of law in Michigan for eighteen months. Costs were assessed in the amount of $284.06.
NOTE: Respondent has been continuously suspended from the practice of law in Michigan since March 16, 1996.