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(Reuters) – The Ohio Supreme Court has decided that an attorney who filed articles of incorporation using the names of businesses owned by the man his estranged wife was dating would receive a six-month stayed suspension for misconduct and false statements.

The court on Thursday largely adopted the sanctions recommended by its professional conduct board for Eric Jones, an attorney in Columbus, Ohio. The board took into account Jones’ efforts to recover from mental health and substance abuse problems.

Jones in August 2018 filed articles of incorporation for “Haberdasher Club, LTD” and “Alpha Suit, LLC,” the names of businesses owned by Sean McKee, the man who was dating his wife, according to Thursday’s decision.

McKee submitted a grievance against Jones over the filings with the Columbus Bar Association in 2019. Jones at first responded by falsely saying he filed the articles of incorporation to protect McKee’s business interests from “trademark bullying,” the decision said, while later admitting that he was actually seeking to retaliate against McKee for dating his wife.

The court affirmed that Jones had violated state attorney ethics rules by making false statements about the incident and for filing to incorporate “for no legitimate business purpose.”

Jones was also found to have engaged in conduct that negatively reflected his fitness to practice law after texting his wife implying retaliation against McKee for the grievance.

According to the filing, Jones was hospitalized for suicidal thoughts and alcohol abuse in November 2019. After his release from the hospital, he entered a three-year Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program (OLAP) program to aid in his recovery.

As conditions of Jones’ stayed suspension, he will be required to complete his OLAP contract with possible renewal, complete an ethics-focused monitored probation, refrain from further misconduct and pay the court fees for the disciplinary case, the decision said.

Two of the judges on Thursday dissented from the ethics probation condition. Justice Sharon Kennedy wrote that Jones’ offenses were about “human frailty” rather than a “pattern of professional misbehavior.”

“[This] really didn’t have anything to do with his representation of clients or his practice of law,” said Jones’ lawyer, Charles Kettlewell, who said the sanction accurately reflects existing case law and said that no clients were affected.

Rick Dove, director of the court’s professional conduct board, declined to comment beyond existing filings.

The case is Columbus Bar Assn. v. Jones, The Board of Professional Conduct of the Supreme Court of Ohio, No. 2021-Ohio-4070.

For the Columbus Bar Association: Bar Counsel Kent Markus and Deputy Bar Counsel Thomas Zani; Anne Valentine; Mark Collins

For Jones: Charles Kettlewell