Supreme Court panel temporarily suspends Holly’s law license – www.elizabethton.com

By Buzz Trexler

Star Reporter

Elizabethton City Judge Jason Lee Holly, who is seeking re-election on Nov. 5, has had his law license suspended by the Tennessee Supreme Court Board of Professional Responsibility, according to a statement from the board.

The temporary suspension occurred because Holly failed to respond to three misconduct complaints. The statement did not provide further details about the complaints, but the board’s chief disciplinary counsel, Sandy Garrett, clarified in a phone interview Tuesday that the suspension was not due to misconduct.

“Mr. “Holly was not suspended for any misconduct as alleged in the complaint, but simply for failing to respond to the board,” Garrett said. Garrett said the temporary restraining order allows him to continue representing existing clients for 30 days, but he cannot take on new clients.

The temporary suspension will remain in effect “until terminated or modified by the Supreme Court,” the statement said. The lawyer may apply to the Supreme Court and request that the restraining order be lifted or changed.

“So, as I said, he has a 30-day period to terminate the petition,” Garrett said, “and frankly, if he responds to the complaint, it wouldn’t be difficult to do that.”

In the statement, it was stated that Holly cannot accept new cases and must stop representing his current clients until November 27, and after this date, “Mr. Holly will not use any title of lawyer, legal assistant or law officer or be present in the place where the legal profession is carried out. Mr. Holly said must notify all clients represented in pending matters, as well as co-counsel and opposing counsel, of the Supreme Court’s decision to suspend his law license and deliver to all clients any documents or property to which they are entitled.”

Under Tennessee Law, city judges must be licensed attorneys and be under the jurisdiction of the Board of Judicial Conduct. Garrett said he couldn’t figure out what impact this would have on the city judge vote. But Carter County Election Commission Elections Administrator Tracy Tanner-Harris said Tuesday that the vote has been determined and will not be changed.

A call to City Attorney Roger Day regarding the impact on Elizabethton Municipal Court was not returned at press time. Similarly, an attempt to contact Holly via email was also unsuccessful at press time.

In her re-election bid, Holly faces Teresa Murray Smith, the city’s first female city judge, who held the job for three months in 2020. The City Council elected Holly as interim city judge in February 2020, replacing TJ Little Jr., who died on Dec. 28, 2019, leaving the city without a judge. Little had been in the position since 2007. The following August, Holly unsuccessfully bid to fill Little’s unexpired term and lost to Smith. However, Holly defeated Smith in the November 2020 election.

This isn’t the first year Holly has faced a Supreme Court lawsuit.

On July 10, AOC General Counsel John Coke notified the city in a letter that “advance notices” had been sent to Holly, advising her that she had failed to comply with state law requiring municipal judges to annually attend three hours of continuing legal education (CLE) provided by AOC.

“As stated in previous communiqués, judges who did not comply with the rules at the end of the previous calendar year will be given an additional period until June 30.he If a municipal judge fails to comply with CLE requirements by that date, “all subsequent decisions shall be null and void and of no effect until such decision is made,” the letter stated. “The time required to meet the requirements.”

In a July 15 email to City Council members, City Manager Daniel Estes said he notified City Attorney Roger Day of the judicial notice of noncompliance and requested that “no matter be heard by the court until this issue is resolved.”

When contacted by a reporter on July 17, Holly said the courses had been completed, and AOC later emailed the reporter stating that the two courses had been completed and provided certificates of completion for those courses.

Holly has been licensed to practice law in Tennessee since 2005, according to the Tennessee Supreme Court Board of Professional Responsibility. He graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1996 and Samford University Cumberland College of Law in 2000.