An Ohio lawyer chided for submitting an appellate brief that was “inadequate, incoherent and unintelligible” will receive a stayed suspension from law practice.
Lawyer Kimberly Anne Valenti, of Hudson, Ohio, was sanctioned for failing to competently and diligently represent clients in three matters, according to the April 21 Ohio Supreme Court opinion imposing the six-month stayed suspension. The Legal Profession Blog noted the decision.
In one of the matters, Valenti was appointed as appellate counsel to represent Richard Doak, who had been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to the Ohio Supreme Court. She failed to file the appeals brief by the extended deadline she sought, then filed it after a show-cause order. She did not file a reply brief.
