Brooklyn Center lawyer in Big Lie cases suspended by Minnesota Supreme Court
Chambers of the Minnesota Supreme Court. Courtesy Minnesota Judicial Branch.
The Minnesota Supreme Court suspended Susan Shogren Smith from practicing law after finding she named plaintiffs in Big Lie election cases without their consent in 2020, according to a June 5 order.
The state's highest court filed the order following a petition for disciplinary action from the Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board. The board, which oversees the state's lawyer disciplinary system, alleged Shogren Smith, now 57, committed professional misconduct.
'[Shogren Smith's] misconduct is serious,' the court order stated. 'Her misconduct involved not just a lack of competence and failure to communicate with clients, but dishonesty to the courts and disregard for the discipline process.'
Shogren Smith did not respond to a phone message.
In 2020, the Brooklyn Center attorney represented the conservative group Minnesota Election Integrity Team in five cases that challenged election results. Shogren Smith named Secretary of State Steve Simon and Democratic House candidates as defendants.
President Donald Trump and his allies were busy at the time fostering unfounded claims of election fraud in what became known as the Big Lie, i.e., that President Joe Biden didn't actually win the election. The claims were rejected by Trump's own attorney general and dozens of judges.
Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro presided over four cases, and one was sent to a three-judge panel. The cases, which Smith filed on behalf of 14 plaintiffs, were dismissed with roughly $18,000 in monetary judgement filed against the plaintiffs.
The state Supreme Court found that Shogren Smith enlisted the plaintiffs without their consent or even any communication with them.
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Shogren Smith selected the 14 people out of a group who had returned affidavits to an email soliciting people to contest Minnesota election results. She drafted the affidavit, and then tacked the responders' names onto lawsuits she filed the next day, according to the order.
'Indeed, at no time either prior to or during the litigation did [Shogren Smith] have any conversations or communications, of any kind, with any of the 14 plaintiffs, none of whom even knew [Shogren Smith's] name,' the court order stated.
The plaintiffs didn't speak with the attorney until February 2021. According to the court order, one plaintiff had 'fortuitously discovered through other means' that she was listed as a party in a lawsuit and had a monetary judgement against her.
That plaintiff — identified in news reports as Corinne Braun — alerted local authorities and the presiding district court judge. Between a hearing and a decision from the three-judge panel, Shogren Smith was charged $25,000.
Once other plaintiffs were aware, nine of the 14 asked to be removed from the proceedings.
Shogren Smith became a licensed Minnesota lawyer in 2004, according to state records. In addition to practicing law, she operates a licensed foster home and has been involved in a number of nonprofits, political and otherwise. Among those is Picture A Hero, which delivers family portraits to military personnel who are preparing to deploy.
Social media posts from Shogren Smith show her posing in Trump merch and assisting in storm clean-ups with the group We the People are Coming to Save America.
The Minnesota Supreme Court determined Shogren Smith's suspension based on four factors: the nature of the misconduct; the cumulative weight of the violations of the rules of professional conduct; harm to the public; and harm to the legal profession.
The suspension takes effect 14 days after it was filed, and it also bars Shogren Smith from petitioning for reinstatement for six months. She cannot be reinstated until she pays $25,000 in sanctions she received in 2021, and upon reinstatement she would face two years of probation.
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