Lawyer gives up license after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assaults, including one involving associate
Ethics
Lawyer gives up license after pleading guilty to misdemeanor assaults, including one involving associate
June 5, 2024, 9:42 am CDT
A Washington lawyer has agreed to give up his law license, rather than fight allegations stemming from his guilty plea to misdemeanor assaults on a Delta Air Lines flight and after a work-sponsored event. (Image from Shutterstock)
A Washington lawyer has agreed to give up his law license, rather than fight allegations stemming from his guilty plea to misdemeanor assaults on a Delta Air Lines flight and after a work-sponsored event.
Hugo Cornelius Johnson IV submitted his permanent resignation in a document filed May 16 with the Washington State Bar Association’s disciplinary board, Law360 reports.
The disciplinary counsel noted three incidents in its statement of alleged misconduct.
One involved allegations that Johnson interfered with a flight crew and attendants. The incident happened on a Delta Air Lines flight from Atlanta to Seattle, according to documents cited by Law360. He pleaded guilty to simple misdemeanor assault in September 2021 and was sentenced to 36 months of probation.
A second concerned a March 2022 deferred-prosecution agreement for driving under the influence in which Johnson was ordered not to consume alcohol.
A third involved July 2020 charges stemming from Johnson’s alleged conduct after an event sponsored by Johnson’s then-law firm, the Dellino Family Law Group.
He pleaded guilty in April 2022 to two misdemeanors: one count of an attempted hate crime and one count of assault in the fourth degree with a sexual motivation. The victim was a firm associate, according to the disciplinary counsel.
Johnson was ordered not to possess alcohol as part of the sentence. Johnson nonetheless “consumed multiple alcoholic beverages” and “exhibited signs of extreme intoxication” at a firm-sponsored event in March 2023, the disciplinary counsel said.
The ABA Journal was unable to reach Johnson at an email address and a phone number listed in his profile by the Washington State Bar Association. Both were linked to the firm Olson Legacy Law.
