Committee on Legal Ethics of West Virginia State Bar v. Hobbs

In this disciplinary proceeding, the Committee on Legal Ethics of the West Virginia State Bar (Committee) found that Mark Hobbs violated the Code of Professional Responsibility when because of coercion from the circuit judge assigned to his medical malpractice case, he paid a percentage of his fee to the judge’s wife and failed to inform anyone of the extortion for almost, six years. After a hearing primarily focusing on mitigating factors, the Committee recommended that Mr. Hobbs’ license to practice law be suspended for two years and that he be required to pay $1,642.73, the costs of the…