Articles by Campbell Law Observer

Karla W. Simon, Duke Law alum of 1972, filed an affidavit of surrender of license in April 2016.  Simon was convicted on November 3, 2014, of felony stalking in Massachusetts.  A little over a month later, Simon was also convicted of 29 counts of misdemeanor Violation of Harassment Prevention Order and 9 counts of felony Intimidate Witness/Juror/Police/Court Official in Massachusetts.  Simon’s convictions supports grounds for discipline showing professional unfitness under N.C. Gen. Stat. [...]

Jack B. Styles filed an affidavit of surrender of license in April 2016.  Based on the affidavit, Styles misappropriated funds entrusted to him in violation of Rule 8.4(b) (criminal act reflecting dishonesty), Rule 8.4(c) (conduct of fraud), and Rule 1.15-2(j) (using entrusted client property for personal benefit) of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct.  Consequently, the Council of the North Carolina State Bar accepted the tender of license and disbarred Styles on April 22, [...]

Hugh McManus, a Wilmington lawyer, was disbarred on April 12, 2016, for professional misconduct. The Disciplinary Hearing Commission of the NC State Bar found that McManus committed misconduct for failing to make disbursements to/on behalf of his clients’ estates (violating Rule 1.15-2(m)), making disbursements to himself from entrusted funds from his clients’ trust accounts (violating Rule 1.15-2(j)), and misappropriating entrusted funds of his clients and falsely representing to them he [...]

Tiffany Ashhurst has been a licensed lawyer in Durham since March of 1999.  Over the course of time, Ashhurst has violated the NC Rules of Professional Conduct because she failed to disburse entrusted client funds to the necessary parties, failed to respond to client requests for information of the status of disbursements, misappropriated entrust funds in excess of $62,000 by transferring these funds to her personal accounts, and misappropriated an additional $49,000 of entrusted funds for [...]

The Senior Resident Superior Court Judge of the 30B Judicial District transferred Brad Harrison Ferguson to disability inactive status and thereby preventing him from practicing law in North Carolina until reinstated by the Court.  Ferguson was transferred under N.C. Gen. Stat. § 84-28(g) & (j) due to his inability to attend court to handle client matters and because his continuing to practice law poses a threat of significant potential harm to clients, the public, the professional of [...]

Thomas S. Hicks was suspended for five years with the possibility of stay after eighteen months of the suspension. Hicks, a Wilmington lawyer, was found in violation of the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct.  Hicks failed to get signed written informed consent from clients he represented in a business transaction violating Rule 1.8(a).   Hicks also violated Rule 1.15 for failing to maintain entrusted client funds, claiming entitlement to interest earned on fiduciary funds, using [...]

Devin F. Thomas maintained law offices in Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and Raleigh.  Between 2014 and 2015, Thomas failed to perform any substantive work on behalf of a paying client, violating Rule 1.3 (due diligence).  Thomas also, during that period, failed to properly communicate with his clients in violation of Rule 1.4(a)(3)&(4) and (b).  Moreover, Thomas failed to properly maintain entrusted client funds, failed to identify items drawn on his trust accounts, and used clients’ [...]

Christine Mumma was the Executive Director and legal counsel for the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence (NCCAI) in Durham County.  In 2004, NCCAI looked into the Davis crime case on behalf of Joseph Sledge, who was convicted for the murders of Josephine and Aileen Davis in 1978.  When Sledge was convicted, DNA testing was available, so NCCAI agreed to pursue the location and testing of evidence from the Davis crime scene.  Between 2009 and 2012, several pieces of evidence were tested [...]

On March 7, 2016, Robert E. Griffin was disbarred by the North Carolina State Bar.  Griffin was a practicing lawyer in Fuquay-Varina when he was suspended by the Bar on August 22, 2014 for three years.  He was originally suspended for failing to communicate with clients, failing to act with due diligence in representation of clients, and for misappropriating client funds.  Only 7 days after receiving notice of his suspension, Griffin was hired by a client to represent him in a divorce [...]

Joanne M. Denison was suspended from the practice of law in North Carolina for three years on February 8, 2016. Denison was suspended in Illinois for a period of three years or until further order of the Court. The Supreme Court of Illinois determined that Denison had engaged in professional misconduct by posting statements to a public blog in which she accused judges and attorneys involved in a probate matter of being corrupt and accepting bribes. There was no factual basis for her statements. [...]

Christopher J. Seufert was reprimanded from the practice of law in North Carolina on February 8, 2016. In 2015, The Professional Conduct Committee of the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued an order reprimanding Seufert for failing to competently represent his client’s interests and for failing to act with reasonable diligence and promptness in advancing his client’s interests in their bankruptcy case. On November 9, 2015 the North Carolina State Bar served Seufert with a Notice of [...]