On Thursday, it was announced by the Maine Board of Overseers of the Bar that two lawyers involved in separate cases have been suspended from practicing law, according to The Portland Press Herald.

One of the lawyers is from Biddeford and the other is from Massachusetts, where he has been suspended from practicing as well.

The attorney from Biddeford, Scott Giese, has a private practice in the town. He was suspended from practicing for at least two months. The timeframe runs from January 22 to March 19. He was also ordered to hand his practice over to Scott Houde, another attorney from Biddeford. Houde is required to monitor the practice of Giese for the two month suspension period.

“The court finds that Attorney Giese’s multiple violations of the Maine Rules of Professional Conduct are serious and troubling. They indicate difficulties with Giese’s ability to manage his practice and properly communicate with clients,” Justice Joseph Jabar of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said. The order was handed down and dated on January 13.



Giese was admitted to the bar in 2008. Judge Jabar noted that Giese grew his practice too fast and was not able to handle all of his clients' legal issues and needs effectively.

The second attorney in question is that of Kirk Griffin. Griffin hails from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Griffin had received his suspension from practicing law in Massachusetts prior to the suspension handed down by the state of Maine. He violated rules of professional conduct when he was told Maine was seeking the same suspension.

Griffin was admitted to the bar in Maine in 1968. He did not respond to the notification sent out by the state on October 13, 2013. He has been suspended from practicing law in Maine until further notice by the state bar.

The list of violations against Griffin in his home state include failure to return client funds, trust account improprieties, failure to comply with the Massachusetts Bar's requests for trust account records and commingling of funds. All of this was documented in an order handed down by Supreme Judicial Court Justice Jon Levy on January 13.

An order of eight pages was signed by the judge in the case involving Giese. In the order, there were complaints filed against Giese by three former clients, an opposing lawyer, and the opposing lawyer's clients.

In the complaints, Giese was accused of neglecting a client's estate, agreeing to a contested parental rights order with the consent of the client, exhibiting inappropriate contact with another lawyer's client, failing to provide action on a client's criminal court appeal and for filing “an unmeritorious lawsuit on behalf of the same family law client with whom he had a personal conflict,” according to the order.