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Notice of suspension for former solicitor

A Warren County attorney has been administratively suspended after failing to comply with continuing legal education requirements.

The notice was sent to the Times Observer by the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for publication as a legal notice.

“Notice is hereby given that John Richard Shreve of Warren County has been Administratively Suspended by Order of the Supreme Court dated March 14, 2019,” the notice states, “which requires that every active lawyer shall annually complete, during the compliance period for which he or she is assigned, the continuing legal education required by the Continuing Legal Education Board.”

The notice states that the Supreme Court’s order “became effective April 12, 2019 for Compliance Group 2,” 30 days after the order was issued.

A filing from the Pa. Supreme Court indicates that Shreve was the only Warren County attorney who was suspended. A total of 384 attorneys were included on the list.

According to the American Bar Association, all attorneys in the Commonwealth have “been permanently assigned randomly” to one of three compliance groups.

Group two’s reporting period runs from September 1 through August 31 and “attorneys have 30 days after compliance date to report credit.”

That would mean Shreve was out of compliance while serving as Warren County’s solicitor.

At a meeting last year, Commissioner Ben Kafferlin said he received a letter from Shreve in early December indicating that Shreve “was looking to take another opportunity,” and “didn’t have the bandwidth to serve the county going forward.”

In response, the commissioners, Kafferlin said, put out a request for qualifications (RFQ) and said the only response received was from Nathaniel J. Schmidt.

Schmidt was unanimously appointed to the post in January.

Shreve’s appointment each of the last two years had been a source of contention among the commissioners for a number of reasons.

According to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board, attorneys who fail to comply are initially sent a “report of non-compliance” and given 60 days to come into compliance.

“Those lawyers, who remain out of compliance, by either not completing hours or not paying late fees, will have their names submitted to the Supreme Court on a Non-Compliant List. The Court will issue an order to administrative suspend the licenses of those lawyers who fail to meet the CLE requirement…”

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