Attorney discipline: Supreme Court decisions in March

Suspended

Elizabeth Bloomquist was suspended from the practice of law for a minimum for 30 days. While a public reprimand was recommended, the Minnesota Supreme Court decided to suspend Bloomquist due to her not making charging decisions on 135 police reports in her former role as City Attorney for Fairmont.

Grace Gardiner was suspended from the practice of law for a minimum for four months, retroactive to August 30, 2021. Gardiner was previously suspended by the Tennessee Supreme Court for three years, with four months active suspension and 32 months of probation. This was due to Gardiner’s failure to obtain original client signatures for documents, forging a bankruptcy trustee’s signature, and not adequately supervising a nonlawyer assistant who had clients sign and backdate documents after they were filed.

Clayton Halunen was indefinitely suspended from the practice of law with no right to petition for reinstatement for one year. Although the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility in October recommended a six-month suspension, followed by two years of supervised probation, the Minnesota Supreme Court thought that was inadequate for a lawyer who sexually harassed vulnerable male employees.

Reinstated

Jason Ahn was reinstated on March 22, 2023. He voluntarily resigned from the practice of law in March 2016. The court reinstated him, finding he had proven his ethical fitness and competence to practice law.

Peder Davisson was conditionally reinstated to the practice of law, subject to his successful completion of the written professional responsibility examination. He was previously suspended in July 2022 for a minimum of 45 days due to engaging in the practice of law while suspended for failure to pay his lawyer registration fee, amongst other charges.

Randall Fuller was reinstated to the practice of law, with two years of probation. Fuller previously was indefinitely suspended in January of 2020. He neglected a client matter, which caused his client to lose appeal rights, made knowingly false statements to a tribunal on four occasions, and made knowingly false statements to his clients and partners regarding the status of the matter.