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On June 12, 2014, a hearing panel of the Disciplinary Hearing Commission disbarred Sue Mako. The Panel found that Mako failed to maintain accurate general ledgers, failed to maintain complete and accurate individual client ledgers, and failed to perform quarterly reconciliations of her trust account. She failed to properly maintain entrusted funds of her clients. Mako continued to spend funds that were not present in her trust account, and used funds for her own benefit without returning
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On June 18, 2014, a Hearing Panel of the Disciplinary Hearing Commission suspended Mary Phillips. Phillips failed to file annual accountings regarding a client’s estate, failed to respond to orders of the Clerk, failing to close out the client’s estate nearly five years after the estate was opened violating the duty of diligence and promptness in representing clients. She also ignored rules of the tribunals in this representation. She failed to respond to various parties invested in the
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Entered on June 12, 2014, the North Carolina State Bar suspended Roydera Hackworth for five years for the unauthorized practice of law in violation of Rule 5.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, making a false statement of material fact in connection with a disciplinary matter in violation of Rule 8.1, engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation in violation of Rule 8.4, and for violating the conditions of her suspension. In 2011, Hackworth began
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On January 23, 2014, a Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar met and reprimanded Attorney Jennifer Moore. Jennifer Moore represented a parent in a child support matter originating in another state, and reported to the client that she had been actively negotiating with opposing counsel, when in fact only 1.3 hours of work in ten months was recorded. The Committee found that Moore failed to actively pursue the client’s interests for a long period of time, Rule 1.3 of the Rules of
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On October 14, 2014, Kevin L. Byrd of Cary voluntarily consented to being transferred to disability inactive status. Byrd suffers from bipolar disorder and depression, two conditions which impair his judgement, competence, and professional performance as an attorney. The procedure for a consensual transfer to disability inactive status is detailed in the North Carolina State Bar’s administrative rules (see Subchapter B, Rule .0118(b)). Based on clear, cogent, and convincing evidence, the
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Christopher V. Vaughan of Hoke County surrendered his law license on August 14, 2014 and was officially disbarred the next day. Vaughan had nine grievances filed against him with the North Carolina State Bar from May 2011 to October 2013. The grievances mainly arose when Vaughan failed to appear in court on behalf of clients who had paid him to represent them in traffic cases. Several clients had their driver’s licenses suspended or revoked without their knowledge due to
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Russell W. Warnock of Asheville was censured by the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar on August 15, 2014. Warnock was retained in 2011 by J.F. to file a patent application. J.F. emailed Warnock in May 2012 to inquire into the status of the application, to which Warnock replied after a long delay that the application was moving forward. In May 2013, Warnock told J.F. in an email that the “patent application is in the queue but needs an updated Inventor statement.”
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Karen Wright of Shelby received a reprimand from the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar on May 22, 2014. Wright was hired by two brothers in 2009 to settle the estates of their parents. She failed to settle the estates in a timely matter, in violation of Rule 1.3 of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct. In addition, Wright violated Rule 1.4(a)(3) by failing to keep the beneficiaries informed about the status of the estate and Rule 1.4(a)(4) by failing to promptly
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On May 22, 2014, the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar reprimanded Thomas D. Blue, Jr. (“Blue”), for violations of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct. In August 2013, a new assistant reconciling the firm’s trust account discovered a bookkeeping error made by Blue’s assistant in November 2010. The error caused a client to receive an over-disbursement of entrusted funds in January 2012. The Grievance Committee reprimanded Blue for failure to adequately
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On June 20, 2014, the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar reprimanded Kristen N. Comerford (“Comerford”). Comerford’s former employer previously filed a grievance against her after learning that she had falsified multiple entries in the firm’s document review software. Her actions violated Rule 8.4(c) of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibits conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation. Although the above violation is
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On February 20, 2014, the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar reprimanded Stephanie L. Villaver (“Villaver”) after determining that her Internet conduct violated several provisions of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct. Villaver posted an Internet advertisement through which she claimed to be “Jacksonville’s best auto injury attorney.” Such a claim violates Rule 7.1(a)(3) because it constitutes a comparison of services that cannot be factually
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William Britt’s actions regarding entrusted funds violated several of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct. First, entrusted funds were not properly maintained, were used to benefit the attorney, and were not properly disbursed. The State Bar found twelve instances in which the attorney misappropriated funds. Second, the attorney did not keep his entrusted funds separate from his own property, leaving his earned fees co-mingled with his client funds in the trust account.
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Antoinette L. Van-Riel violated numerous rules after being hired to represent M. K. in separation and divorce proceedings. Van-Riel violated Rule 1.4 of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct for failing to respond to M. K.’s calls and requests for information. She also violated Rules 1.5(a) and 1.4 for charging clearly excessive fees and failing to communicate with the client when the client had questions about the excessively charged invoice. Lastly, Van-Riel violated Rules
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On December 1, 2005, Ronna Gibbs was transferred to disability inactive status. On December 5, 2013, Dr. Philip H. Lavine, M.D., stated that Gibbs was in remission from major depression and as such, fit to resume the practice of law. Finding no evidence to the contrary, the Disciplinary Hearing granted Gibbs’s Petition for Reinstatement to Active Status on April 9, 2014. View the full disciplinary order below. Trouble viewing? Click here to download the order (PDF,
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Kia Scott was disbarred on May 6, 2014 by a Hearing Panel of the Disciplinary Hearing Commission.
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