[Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as Disciplinary Counsel v. Rutherford, Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-2680.] NOTICE This slip opinion is subject to formal revision before it is published in an advance sheet of the Ohio Official Reports. Readers are requested to promptly notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of Ohio, 65 South Front Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215, of any typographical or other formal errors in the opinion, in order that corrections may be made before the opinion is published. SLIP OPINION NO. 2018-OHIO-2680 DISCIPLINARY COUNSEL v. RUTHERFORD. [Until this opinion appears in the Ohio Official Reports advance sheets, it may be cited as Disciplinary Counsel v. Rutherford, Slip Opinion No. 2018-Ohio-2680.] Attorneys—Misconduct—Multiple violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct, including neglecting client matters, failing to refund unearned legal fees, engaging in dishonest conduct, and failing to cooperate in disciplinary investigations—Permanent disbarment. (No. 2017-0010—Submitted January 24, 2018—Decided July 11, 2018.) ON CERTIFIED REPORT by the Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme Court, No. 2016-051. __________________ Per Curiam. {¶ 1} Respondent, Guy Darius Rutherford, whose last known address was in Cleveland, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0066032, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1996. SUPREME COURT OF OHIO Summary of Prior Discipline {¶ 2} We suspended Rutherford in four different matters starting in 1998 and ending in 2009. Rutherford was suspended in 1998 for nonpayment of child support, see In re Rutherford, 81 Ohio St.3d 1254, 691 N.E.2d 1049 (1998), and was reinstated two months later. He was briefly suspended for failing to timely register as an attorney in 2005 and 2007, see In re Attorney Registration Suspension of Rutherford, 107 Ohio St.3d 1431, 2005-Ohio-6408, 838 N.E.2d 671; In re Attorney Registration Suspension of Rutherford, 116 Ohio St.3d 1420, 2007-Ohio- 6463, 877 N.E.2d 305. In 2006, we imposed a stayed six-month suspension for Rutherford’s neglect of three clients’ matters, failure to deposit unearned fees into his client trust account, and failure to promptly deliver funds that his clients were entitled to receive, but we later revoked the stay based on his contempt of our prior order. See Cuyahoga Cty. Bar Assn. v. Rutherford, 112 Ohio St.3d 159, 2006-Ohio- 6526, 858 N.E.2d 417; Cuyahoga Cty. Bar Assn. v. Rutherford, 118 Ohio St.3d 1512, 2008-Ohio-3441, 889 N.E.2d 1028. He was reinstated in May 2009. {¶ 3} On March 11, 2016, we suspended Rutherford’s license on an interim basis after he failed to answer a December 11, 2015 disciplinary complaint filed by relator, disciplinary counsel, which alleged that he had abandoned multiple clients, failed to refund (or failed to timely refund) their retainers, failed to cooperate in multiple disciplinary investigations, and engaged in additional misconduct. Disciplinary Counsel v. Rutherford, 145 Ohio St.3d 1247, 2016-Ohio-944, 49 N.E.3d 309. On October 31, 2016, we converted that interim suspension into an indefinite suspension pursuant to Gov.Bar R. V(14)(E)(1), and that suspension remains in effect. Disciplinary Counsel v. Rutherford, 147 Ohio St.3d 1245, 2016- Ohio-7532, ...
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