Miss. Bar v. Abioto


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Docket Number: 2007-BD-01226-SCT

Supreme Court: Opinion Link
Opinion Date: 11-08-2007
Opinion Author: CARLSON, J.
Holding: Wanda X. Abioto shall be publicly reprimanded in Open Court by the Presiding Judge on the first day of the next term of the Circuit Court of DeSoto County after this decision is final and assessed with all costs. Wanda X. Abioto taxed with costs of appeal.

Additional Case Information: Topic: Bar discipline - Miss.R.Disc. 13 - Public reprimand
Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Waller and Diaz, P.JJ., Easley, Graves, Dickinson, Randolph and Lamar, JJ.
Nature of the Case: CIVIL - BAR MATTERS

  Party Name: Attorney Name:  
Appellant: The Mississippi Bar




ADAM B. KILGORE



 

Appellee: Wanda X. Abioto PRO SE  

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Topic: Bar discipline - Miss.R.Disc. 13 - Public reprimand

Summary of the Facts: Wanda Abioto, a Mississippi attorney, was publicly censured by the Supreme Court of Tennessee for failing to keep adequate trust account records, misplacing client property, and being held in contempt of court for failing to return two videos to her client. Thereafter, the Mississippi Bar filed a formal complaint seeking sanctions against Abioto pursuant to Rule 13 of the Rules of Discipline.

Summary of Opinion Analysis: Pursuant to Miss.R.Disc. 13, no further fact-finding is required as to Abioto’s guilt. Considering the violations of failing to keep adequate trust account records and misplacing client property, it is critical that discipline be imposed for the duties violated to deter similar misconduct by members of the Bar in the future, to preserve the dignity and reputation of the legal profession, and to protect the public from such misconduct. The Bar does not allege, nor does the record reveal, the details of the ethical violations to which Abioto offered a conditional plea of guilty in Tennessee. There is nothing in the record concerning Abioto’s mental state; the actual or potential injury caused by the lawyer’s misconduct; or the existence of aggravating or mitigating circumstances. Neither does the record reveal whether Abioto heretofore has been sanctioned by a tribunal in this state or a foreign jurisdiction. Therefore, there is no reason to stray from the discipline imposed by Supreme Court of Tennessee. The appropriate sanction for Abioto is one of public reprimand.


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