A Buffalo attorney with a history of abandoning clients has been disbarred from practicing law in Wyoming.
The Wyoming State Bar announced Monday that the Wyoming Supreme Court has disbarred Nick Beduhn after he had already been suspended from practicing law indefinitely by the State Bar in November 2022.
The Supreme Court disbarred Beduhn last week for abandoning clients and failing to cooperate with an investigation into two disciplinary complaints made about him. The disbarment came before the court upon a report from the Wyoming State Bar’s Board of Professional Responsibility recommending disbarment. Beduhn didn’t oppose the recommendation.
Beduhn declined to comment when reached by Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday morning.
What Did He Do?
Beduhn was accused in a pair of complaints of abdicating his responsibilities as an attorney for clients in a federal lawsuit opposing COVID-19 vaccine mandates imposed at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and Memorial Hospital of Converse County in Douglas in late 2021.
After submitting an initial filing for the case “that was poorly submitted and looked as though it was not looked over because there were many errors in the documentation,” Beduhn failed to take any future action in the case, according to complainant and plaintiff Tonya Middleton, who Beduhn had represented in the case.
Middleton told Cowboy State Daily she found her experience with Beduhn disappointing as she thought he left her group hanging.
"It was just unfortunate, because we were kind of stuck out there, hung out to dry," she said.
Beduhn failed to formally withdraw from the case and made no efforts to communicate with his clients or the court, according to the complaint. He was also ordered by the court to pay the defendant’s $6,779 in attorney’s fees.
Sordid Past
Beduhn had his license to practice law suspended for the first time in 2017 on five separate complaints and a rule violation from his time serving as an attorney in the Cody area.
His petition for reinstatement was granted in early 2021, and Beduhn quickly after became the attorney on a lawsuit filed against all Wyoming health officers, State Health Officer Dr. Alexia Harrist, Gov. Mark Gordon and the former Wyoming Department of Health Director. It was quickly dismissed in court.
Beduhn also was the attorney for Grace Smith, a Laramie High School student arrested on suspicion of trespassing at the school in October 2021 after refusing to wear a face mask and leave the LHS campus.
Smith, her father and nine other plaintiffs were represented by Beduhn in their federal lawsuit alleging claims of fraud against state officials and sought an injunction against any mandates or COVID policies concerning masks, social distancing, testing or quarantines. The plaintiffs argued the state of Wyoming extended its COVID-19 public health emergency longer than necessary to get federal funding.
The case was formally dismissed by former U.S. District Judge Nancy Freudenthal in 2022, who chastised Beduhn for failing to respond to several motions to dismiss the case, despite her orders reminding him of the briefing deadlines.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
