08.15.2014 Reprimand [Mecklenburg County]
On August 15, 2014 William P. Bray received a reprimand from the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar for violations of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct.
Bray was retained to represent a client, and during the course of that representation, the Grievance Committee found that he was reckless in his research and reports to the client about the status of the lawsuit, which violated Rule 8.4(d). As a result of this conduct, the Grievance Committee found that Bray did not keep his client reasonably informed, which is a violation of Rule 1.4(a)(3).
Bray later filed a lawsuit against that former client for failure to pay legal fees. During the course of negotiations, an attorney from Bray’s firm emailed the client’s lawyers conditioning settlement on the client withdrawing any grievances against Bray which constitutes lawyer misconduct in violation of Rule 8.4(d).
After the lawsuit was over, Bray made comments on LinkedIn and Twitter about the fee dispute lawsuit, which the Grievance Committee found inappropriate and unprofessional.
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