Disbarred Lawyer Once Fled African Indictment and Was Removed From the Bench
When Melvin T. Johnson of Lithonia's Action Johnson law firm was removed as Lithonia's chief municipal court judge for repeatedly failing to complete state-required judicial training, he was facing theft, economic sabotage and conspiracy charges in Liberia associated with his role as legal adviser to the Liberia Airport Authority.
February 10, 2020 at 05:36 PM
4 minute read
A Lithonia attorney disbarred by the Supreme Court of Georgia Monday has had a career marred by controversy, including his ouster from a judgeship and an international indictment.
The state high court disbarred Melvin T. Johnson of the Action Johnson Firm based on "serious misconduct" in five client matters and multiple violations of the State Bar of Georgia's ethics rules. The high court also said Johnson "has shown contempt for the disciplinary process" by refusing to respond to bar investigators' requests for information or to their motions, including a move to sanction him.
In its disbarment order, the high court said Johnson never offered any explanation for not responding.
"The only filing Johnson made … was a meritless motion to recuse the special master, which the special master properly denied because the motion failed to articulate a basis for disqualification or recusal," the unsigned opinion said.
On Tuesday, Johnson called his disbarment "a grave and blatant injustice" and denied the allegations that cost him his bar license.
" I am an African American male who has been quite vocal and political and I have my suspicions of what's really transpiring," he said in a written statement to The Daily Report.
Six years ago, the state Judicial Qualifications Commission removed Johnson as Lithonia's chief municipal court judge for repeatedly failing to complete the mandatory educational training for judges required by state law. The city terminated Johnson's contract after the JQC voted unanimously on Jan. 9, 2014, to remove him and barred him from performing any further judicial duties.
When Johnson was removed from the Lithonia bench, the Liberian government in Africa was seeking to extradite him to face charges of economic sabotage, theft and conspiracy in connection with his work as the legal adviser to the Liberia Airport Authority in Monrovia, Liberia.
Johnson and the airport's former managing director, Ellen Corkrum, were indicted in Liberia in August 2013 and charged with defrauding the Liberian government through the unauthorized transfer of airport funds to consulting firms for services that were never rendered. Information Minister Lewis Brown at the time called the indictment an example of the Liberian government's "unwavering fight against corruption."
The duo told the Daily Report in 2014 that they were smuggled out of the west African country in February 2013, six months before they were indicted. They said they had been warned by the country's police director that their detention was imminent and their lives could be in danger if they were taken into custody.
According to Liberian newspaper Front Page Africa, Liberian Solicitor General Syrennius Cephas dismissed the charges against Corkrum in December. Last month, Corkrum returned to Liberia, where she was met by a huge crowd at the airport she managed until she was forced to flee the country in 2013.
But, according to the newspaper, the indictment against Johnson was never dismissed. Johnson said Tuesday he was informed last December by a Liberian court clerk that the indictment against him was going to be dismissed. He said that, although he has not received official notice, he assumes the charges were dropped at the same time as Corkrum's.
Johnson was previously suspended by the Supreme Court in 2015 and 2017, according to his public disciplinary history. He was reinstated both times after belatedly responding to notice by the bar that it was investigating unspecified complaints against him.
Johnson and Corkrum were both born in Liberia. Johnson said he was a naturalized U.S. citizen who immigrated with his mother to the U.S. when he was 13. Johnson was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 2001 after earning his law degree in 2000 at Georgia State University. Johnson said he served as Lithonia's chief municipal court judge, a part-time post, for about seven years before he was ousted.
Johnson said he called his firm the Action Johnson Firm, because his nickname in law school was "Action Johnson," a play on the 1988 movie, "Action Jackson."
Like Johnson, Corkrum was a Liberian national who emigrated to the U.S. as a teenager and subsequently became a U.S. citizen.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'Possible Harm'?: Winston & Strawn Will Appeal Unfavorable Ruling in NASCAR Antitrust Lawsuit
3 minute read3 GOP States Join Paid Sick Leave Movement, Passing Ballot Measures by Wide Margins
5 minute read'Paragraph V Displaced Lathrop': High Court Mulls Sovereign Immunity Waiver Disputes
7 minute read11th Circuit Revives Project Veritas' Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN
Trending Stories
- 1Will the 9th Circuit Still be Center Stage in Trump Policy Challenges?
- 2Obtaining Reimbursement from Medicaid
- 3NY Requiring Lawyers to Report Out-of-State Admissions, Public Discipline
- 4Man Hits Cow in Case That Tests 'Unrealistic Delivery Times'
- 5DC Judge, Applying 'Loper Bright,' Dismisses Complaint in Medicare Drug-Classification Dispute
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250