Blythewood attorney suspended retroactively

Attorney: Jonathan L.B. Davis

Location: Blythewood

Bar membership: Member since 2003

Disciplinary action: Suspended from the practice of law for one year on Feb. 27, retroactive to the date of his interim suspension.

Background: A married couple retained Davis to represent them in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy matter. Davis, who had never handled a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, filed a petition on their behalf, and 41 days later filed an application for employment as their primary attorney. The bankruptcy court granted the application, but the delayed filing meant Davis was acting without the required authority for those 41 days, in violation of the rules of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Davis did not have an active trust account when the clients began paying him pursuant to a retainer agreement. He deposited the retainer funds into his general operating account in violation of Rules of Professional Conduct. (He later opened a trust account and transferred the funds.) In a separate case, the bankruptcy court held Davis in civil contempt for failing to comply with a court order to timely cure deficiencies in a petition for bankruptcy relief. Davis also failed to timely reply to the ODC’s notices of investigation in several matters.

Previous discipline: Davis had been on interim suspension since Sept. 7, 2017. Additionally, Davis was placed on interim suspension in August 2010 after he was arrested and charged with driving under the influence on two occasions. He was reinstated in September 2012 after he was found not guilty of one of the charges and the remaining charges were dismissed. Davis was also administratively suspended in February 2017 for failure to pay license fees and reinstated the next month.