Akron attorney suspended for demanding nude photos from client, failing to aid her in Lorain County case

The Ohio Supreme Court has suspended an Akron-based attorney for failing to respond to a complaint that he solicited nude photos from a female client he represented in a criminal case in Medina County. A Lorain County Bar Association investigation also found that Ronald Spears didn't respond to that same client's attempts to contact him about a custody case in Lorain County involving her children. Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy issued the court's ruling on Friday, following a recommendation by the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct, which said Spears didn't respond to an investigator who tried numerous time to contact him. While suspended, Spears can't practice law, represent clients, give legal advice or provide legal services. He is required to tell all of his clients he has been suspended and return their unused or unearned legal fees. An email seeking comment was left Friday for Spears, 57, of Akron. Attorney Wayne Nicol, who investigated the complaint for the Lorain County Bar Association, filed a report in May that said Spears solicited nude photos from a woman he initially represented on felony aggravated vehicular assault and DUI charges in Medina County Common Pleas Court in 2020. Spears texted the woman "requesting nude photographs and videos" after she was charged and while she was in a substance abuse recovery program, Nicol found. Spears allegedly wrote that he would "work a little harder if he got the pictures." The woman felt compelled to send them, but also "degraded and demoralized that she was required to send inappropriate texts to her attorney," Nicol found. Spears allegedly told the woman he wouldn't show up at her sentencing if she didn't do what he wanted. The two didn't have a consensual sexual relationship before or after their attorney-client relationship started, Nicol's investigation found. The woman got 18 months in prison. Released from prison in mid-2022, she hired Spears to help her in a custody matter involving her two children in Lorain County. Spears allegedly lied to her and her and her family about court proceedings, then allegedly stopped responding to their calls, Nicol's investigation found. She filed a bar association complaint against Spears in mid-2025. When served with the complaint, Spears asked for extra time to respond. After getting the extension, he never responded to Nicol's phone calls, emails and letters, and a certified letter sent to his Akron office in January was returned unclaimed, according to the Supreme Court. Spears was evicted from his leased office space on White Pond Drive in Akron in July, according to Akron Municipal Court records. The Ohio Supreme Court publicly reprimanded Spears in 2023 for failing to communicate with a client, not disclosing that he didn't have professional liability insurance, failing to notify clients they were entitled to refunds and not properly handling clients' money. Spears has been a lawyer in Ohio since 1998, according to the Ohio Supreme Court. Contact Dave O'Brien at 440-329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.