Lawyer suspended following 'unconventional, erratic and threatening behavior'
A lawyer has been suspended from Ohio law practice for 18 months, with six months stayed, for an incident in which he confronted ex-colleagues with a hatchet and challenged the name partner of his former law firm to a duel.
The Ohio Supreme Court suspended lawyer Ronald Coleman Taylor Jr. of Fort Thomas, Kentucky, in an Oct. 23 opinion, Court News Ohio reports. He has been on an interim suspension since April 2024, the same month of the incident at the Law Offices of Blake R. Maislin at its Cincinnati location.
He was admitted to practice law in Ohio in 2008 and is also licensed to practice law in Kentucky, where he is also currently suspended.
Taylor agreed to stipulations of fact and misconduct in the ethics case but did not show up for the disciplinary hearing before a panel of the Ohio Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Conduct.
Taylor’s former colleagues and other people were gathered outside the firm to watch a total solar eclipse on the day of the incident.
Taylor drove up and jumped out of his car sporting a “shaved head and markings on his face” that he described as “war paint,” according to the Ohio Supreme Court’s opinion. He retrieved a hatchet and metal baseball bat from his trunk. Then he shouted for name partner Blake Maislin to come outside for a duel.
Most of the crowd retreated to the firm, but Taylor’s former legal assistant approached him and convinced him to leave. He was gone before police arrived, and no charges were filed.
That same day, Taylor sent his legal assistant a series of texts, the opinion said. Some of them read:
“I’m a Blackfeet Warrior. You want to do work? I will take scalps.
“I was praying Blake would come out. I was praying that he would choose the bat since he likes baseball, so I could execute my plan and take his scalp and drink his blood in front of you and while I raged like a deranged starving cornered vengeful beast. …
“There is another device called a Molotov cocktail that I think would be tremendously effective during a big mediation, bring some innocents into it, to exponentially heighten the motherf- - -ing horror.”
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During the ethics investigation, there had been some discussion of a mental disorder underlying Taylor’s misconduct. Taylor intended to present evidence on that point at the hearing that he ultimately did not attend, the disciplinary counsel told the hearing panel.
Taylor “has not offered even the most rudimentary evidence regarding the behavioral-health issues that undoubtedly contributed to his unconventional, erratic and threatening behavior,” the Ohio Supreme Court said.
The Ohio Supreme Court noted that Taylor’s conduct was premeditated, and there was only one mitigating factor—Taylor’s “clean disciplinary record.”
The suspension is stayed for six months if Taylor commits no further misconduct. Before reinstatement, he must show that he was assessed by the Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program, and that he has complied with recommended treatment or counseling. He also must submit a report from a health care professional stating that he is competent to resume law practice.
Taylor did not immediately respond to a voicemail left at a business phone number listed by the state bar. A phone number for him found online had been disconnected.
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