Ohio Supreme Court suspends area attorney

The Ohio Supreme Court has suspended Akron attorney Rami M. Awadallah from practicing law after ruling that he fraudulently and deceptively represented several of his clients — including some in Lorain County — during court proceedings.

The Oct. 9 ruling suspends Awadallah from practicing law for up to six months.

On April 30, the Lorain County Bar Association filed a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline against Awadallah, which according to the document, committed multiple violations of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct and Ohio Rules for the Government of the Bar.

Attorney Stephen Mecker, a member of the County Bar Association, was assigned to represent the group by sending by seven letters requesting Awadallah to respond to the allegations against him.

Awadallah did not respond to any of the letters and was later issued an Ohio Board of Tax Appeals Order which placed him in contempt and demanded that he reimburse the Lorain County Board of Revision and county auditor $8,529.76 for legal fees, a punitive award, and the cost of two sanction hearings associated with one case.

According to the complaint filed, Awadallah, who has practiced law in Ohio since 2005, failed to show up for numerous court proceedings after filing countless complaints and at least 25 property tax appeals with the Lorain County Board of Revisions in 2012 and 2013.

Awadallah acted on the behalf of multiple clients and governmental agencies in and outside of Lorain County, some of which he had never met and was not authorized to represent yet still delivered invoices for, according to the complaint.

READ: The full complaint
 
Due to Awadallah’s negligence in court proceedings, most of his “client’s” cases were dismissed, the document states.

The grievance went on to state that multiple clients and governmental agencies were impaired by Awadallah processing complaints and appeals that were “never prosecuted, by scheduling untold hearings that did not go forward and by managing cases that were frivolous and often filed without the informed consent of the ‘clients’.”

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Ohio Supreme Court suspends area attorney