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On October 22, 2014, L. Pendleton Hayes filed an affidavit of surrender of license at the North Carolina State Bar. Based upon this affidavit, the Council of the North Carolina State Bar found that Hayes misappropriated in excess of $400,000 of entrusted funds and engaged in fraudulent bank transactions in violation of Rules 8.4(b) and 8.4(c). View the full disciplinary order below. Trouble viewing? Click here to download the order (PDF, [...]

On October 21, 2014, Freddie Lane, Jr. filed an affidavit of surrender of license at the North Carolina State Bar. Based upon this affidavit, the Council of the North Carolina State Bar found that Lane misappropriated at least $500,000 of entrusted funds and failed to file and pay income taxes in violation of Rule 8.4(b) and 8.4(c). View the full disciplinary order below. Trouble viewing? Click here to download the order (PDF, [...]

On July 25, 2014 Donald F. Lively was disbarred by the Council of the North Carolina State Bar. Based on an affidavit of surrender of license executed by Lively, the Council found that he knowingly and intentionally engaged in the unauthorized practice of law in North Carolina for at least two years after being administratively suspended. This included obtaining property under false pretenses by receiving fees or the legal work he performed and falsely representing his suspended status and/or [...]

On April 24, 2014, Scott Leon Ingersoll received a reprimand from the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar. On and around September 4, 2012, Ingersoll represented a client in a criminal case. Throughout this representation, Ingersoll violated several rules of professional conduct. Specifically, Ingersoll filed a motion to suppress although he had documents in his possession that refuted his affidavit. Ingersoll also submitted an affidavit of time for his representation of the [...]

On April 24, 2014 the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar issued a reprimand to William A. LeLiever for violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. First, LeLiever violated Rule 8.4(d) for professional misconduct by (1) failing to timely comply with the Bankruptcy Court’s order and failure to properly appear at compliance hearings which amounted to prejudicial conduct to the administration of justice and (2) failing to acknowledge and comply with his obligation to [...]

On April 24, 2014, the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar reprimanded Mark S. Jetton, Jr. for violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Jetton violated Rule 7 Information about Legal Services in several different occasions in advertisement and soliciting clients. Specifically, Jetton violated Rule 7.3(c)(1) for having the advertising notice is smaller font than his firm’s name on the letterhead of targeted mail solicitation. He also violated Rule 7.1(a)(1) and (2) for [...]

On January 23, 2014, Christopher D. Lane received a reprimand from the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar for violates of the Rules of Professional Conduct. In September 2010, Lane entered into an agreement with a California and Illinois law firm, Krohn and Moss, Ltd. (Krohn and Moss), to serve “Of Counsel.” Under this agreement, Krohn and Moss established a continuous presence in North Carolina with Lane’s office as its physical address. None of the attorneys at Krohn [...]

Entered on August 26, 2014, Lori Glenn was suspended for three years with possible stay. From 2009-2012, for residential real estate clients, Glenn failed to timely disburse the title insurance premium shown on the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and failed to submit the final title opinion to obtain the title insurance policy, failed to respond to inquiries from at least one lender concerning an outstanding policy, failed to make various disbursements shown on the applicable HUD-1 Settlement [...]

Entered on August 18, 2014, the North Carolina State Bar suspended Robert E. Griffin from the practice of law for three years. Griffin was suspended for various misappropriations and mishandling of client funds, a failure of diligence in representing his clients, and engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. Griffin received an admonition in 1981, a suspension in 1989, and a reprimand in 2005. In the instances related to this case, Griffin, failed to file a motion for [...]

Entered on August 21, 2014, the North Carolina State Bar suspended Lynne Hicks, for two years with a stay of three years as long as she complies with the order. Hicks was suspended from practicing law for two years for misappropriating funds in the trust accounts she maintained for clients in violation of Rules 1.15-2 and 1.15-3 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Hicks was disciplined in 2006 for improper trust account management. Hicks was subject to a random audit again in 2012. Hicks [...]

On July 24, 2014, the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar met and reprimanded Attorney William Noel, III. Noel represented a client in a number of traffic matters and failed to appear on behalf of his client in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Noel failed to respond to his client despite his efforts to communicate and failed to refund the fee the client paid. The office was being managed by the office manager without any supervision by Noel. The Committee found [...]

Entered on August 12, 2014,Kenneth Free was publicly reprimanded for violating his professional duties as a lawyer by failing to appeal for his client who asked him to do so. Lawyers practicing in this state owe to their clients the duties of competence, diligence, and communication, among many others. Particularly, as per the Plan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Implementation of the Criminal Justice Act, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals stated that each [...]

On July 22, 2014, the North Carolina State Bar disbarred Richard Polidi. Polidi received funds in connection with the representation of a client that were assigned to a third party. He used the funds for his own benefit and the client’s without the authorization of the third party, in violation of Rule 1.15-2 and Rule 8.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. He ultimately transferred the funds to the client in an amount at least equal to the entrusted funds that he received in connection [...]