Ethics
Lawyer is disbarred after trying to run his law practice from jail
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The Oklahoma Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer who continued practicing law from jail after his conviction for shooting and injuring a man outside an Oklahoma City nightclub.
The state supreme court disbarred lawyer Jay Silvernail after rejecting a recommendation for a suspension of two years and one day.
The silvernail-shot-ryan-dejesus-outsi.html”Legal Profession Blog has highlights from the June 28 opinion.
Silvernail had tried to continue his law practice while he was in the county jail awaiting sentencing for the May 2016 shooting of Ryan Dejesus, who lost most of his right leg as a result of the gunshot wound.
Silvernail “was more interested in cash flow than client care,” the state supreme court said. And his decision to bring a loaded gun into a verbal dispute with Dejesus “gives us grave concerns about his fitness to practice law,” the Oklahoma Supreme Court added.
Silvernail was convicted of assault and battery with a deadly weapon in October 2019 for shooting Dejesus,