Articles by Campbell Law Observer

The State Bar filed separate complaints against Cassandra Stubbs and Gretchen Engel alleging violations of Rule 1.3 and 8.4(d).  The hearing panel entered summary judgment in favor of the State Bar against Stubbs and dismissed the complaint against Engel.  Subsequently, Stubbs filed a Motion for ...[Continue Reading]

Joseph Lee Levinson was suspended from the practice of law on January 29, 2016. Levinson was charged with two felonies. He pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to obtain money in the custody of a bank by false pretenses. The State Bar found that the offense for which Levinson pled guilty was a ...[Continue Reading]

On January 21, 2016 Kevin Byrnes was suspended from the practice of law.  In connection with his law practice, Byrnes maintained multiple trust accounts.  While holding these trusts, Byrnes failed to perform quarterly reconciliations, failed to distribute funds to those entitled, failed to keep ...[Continue Reading]

Dan Merrell of Dare County, North Carolina, was suspended from the practice of law on January 11, 2016, effective thirty days from that date.  While working as the attorney for the Town of Kill Devil Hills, he was involved in a scandal surrounding a local judge and police department.  Once he was ...[Continue Reading]

Sir Ashley James Harrison was suspended from the practice of law on December 8, 2015.  Several clients filed complaints against Harrison.  The disciplinary committee found that Harrison failed to notify clients of court appearances, failed to refund money when he offered no legal services, and ...[Continue Reading]

Karla Simon was temporarily suspended from the practice of law, pending further investigation, on November 30, 2015.  Simon pled guilty in Massachusetts in November 2014 of felony stalking.  She was also found guilty of 29 counts of violating a harassment prevention order and 9 counts of ...[Continue Reading]

Victor H. Morgan, Jr. was disbarred from the practice of law on November 18, 2015.  Prior to disbarment, Morgan’s license was suspended for three years effective June 15, 2013.  Morgan represented numerous clients before his suspension.  During his suspension, Morgan failed to return files to ...[Continue Reading]

Jimmy A. Pettus was disbarred on November 11, 2015. The State Bar found that between November 2010 and December 2011, Pettus, as managing partner, misappropriated entrusted funds for his own benefit or for the benefit of Vick & Associates.  By misappropriating entrusted funds, Pettus committed ...[Continue Reading]

H. Russell Vick and Jimmy A. Pettus, partners in Vick & Associates, were disciplined for not timely depositing their employee’s IRA withholdings into the participating employees’ simple IRA accounts. Rather, they commingled the withholdings with other funds used for the benefits of Vick ...[Continue Reading]

Robert Tucker was suspended from the practice of law on November 3, 2015.   During the course of his law practice, Tucker mishandled several trust accounts by failing to properly keep records and disbursing more funds than were deposited.  Tucker also failed to record deeds of trust for several ...[Continue Reading]

The complaint filed against Gretchen M. Engel alleging that she had engaged in intentional misconduct, willfulness, or bad faith, was dismissed on November 2, 2015.  Engel was employed as the Director of Post-Conviction Litigation for the Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL) in Durham. ...[Continue Reading]