A Columbus lawyer who went toe-to-toe with Franklin County Probate Judge Lawrence A. Belskis took it on the chin this week.

Bryan Bright Johnson, who charged in 2002 that Belskis had spent public funds on golf, Christmas parties and tickets to the Memorial Tournament, had his license suspended for six months by the Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday.

Johnson's allegations about Belskis' ethics came after Belskis complained that Johnson grossly overbilled two elderly sisters.

"I caught him stealing" and the allegations were retribution, Belskis said in a 2002 interview.

On Wednesday, the high court unanimously suspended Johnson for six months and ordered him to pay $50,000 in restitution to his clients.

The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline had recommended only a public reprimand. But the justices said stiffer punishment was required to "protect the public and deter the use of billing practices that so obviously violate the reasonable-fee standards" in Ohio.

Belskis appointed Johnson guardian for Helen Bryan and Lucille Lauder, who were living in a nursing home in 1998. Johnson went after $879,000 their former attorney had stolen from them.

Johnson recovered $165,000 in his first six months and billed about $46,000. During the next 25 months, he recovered $21,000 but billed more than $100,000.

Belskis filed a disciplinary complaint against Johnson. When Johnson filed his own complaint, he also sent records of Belskis' spending from a public fund to Dennis L. White, chairman of the Franklin County Democratic Party. Belskis, a Republican, was up for re-election in 2002. White called for an investigation.

Before the election, Belskis used campaign money to repay the public account more than $15,000 he'd spent on golf, wine for office Christmas parties, meals with his wife at seminars and golf-tournament tickets he handed out to office staff members.

He was re-elected. The state disciplinary board dismissed the ethics charges against him in 2005, concluding that he didn't break any laws but used poor judgment in his spending.

kmayhood@dispatch.com