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Garey M. Ballance was disbarred from the practice of law on October 8, 2015.  The North Carolina State Bar filed a complaint against Ballance on March 30, 2015, alleging that he had appropriated funds entrusted to him by his clients for his own use.  Ballance failed to maintain trust account records, failed to keep up with whose balance in the account was whose, moved funds around, made cash withdrawals from the trust account without indicating from which client, and failed to reconcile [...]

On September 28, 2015, Jason Gold was reinstated to practice law, and his suspension stayed.  He was suspended on September 26, 2013 for five years for making false or misleading statements to investigative officers.  He complied with the disciplinary order and his suspension was stayed, and he was reinstated. Trouble viewing? Click here to download the order (PDF, [...]

On September 28, 2015, Jeffrey Berman was reinstated to practice law.  He was suspended on May 1, 2013 for improperly handling a client’s case and failing to disclose certain documents and information.  He complied with the disciplinary order and was reinstated. Trouble viewing? Click here to download the order (PDF, [...]

On September 25, 2015, Franklin Huggins was disbarred from the practice of law.  Huggins misappropriate d entrusted client funds, used client entrusted funds for his personal benefit and/or the benefit of others not entitled to those funds, engaged in criminal activity and conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and an inability to be fit for the practice of law.  He resigned his license to practice law and tendered his license.  As a result of his inappropriate actions, and his [...]

On September 16, 2015, Jeffrey Smith was suspended from the practice of law for two years.  Smith was found to have failed to conduct monthly and quarterly reconciliations of his trust account, failed to disburse proper funds for clients based on those in the trust account, disbursed funds in excess of what was in the account, and made checks payable to “cash” form his trust account and improperly withdrew an item on his trust account.  Based on his improper handling of client funds and [...]

On September 10, 2015, Warren Ballentine was suspended for a period of time to conclude the proceedings in Illinois showing professional unfitness.  Ballentine was found guilty of one count of mail fraud affecting a financial institution, one count of wire fraud affecting a financial institution, two counts of bank fraud, and two counts of making false statements to financial institutions.  The State Bar found that his crimes were serious such that they showed professional unfitness, he was [...]

On August 27, 2015, Steve Combs was suspended from the practice of law for three years.  Combs was found to have failed to timely complete title insurance applications and premium information, and failed to inform his client of his failure to complete the title opinion and disburse the title insurance premium.  Combs did not preserve title insurance premiums entrusted to him by clients, and disbursed more funds for clients than he had in his trust account.  He failed to keep adequate client [...]

On August 21, 2015, Andrew Patterson, II, was disbarred from the practice of law.  Patterson was found to have failed to appear and timely schedule court hearings, failed to act with reasonable diligence when representing a client, and failed to respond to clients regarding active cases.  Patterson failed to explain a fee agreement to the client and made terms in the agreement improper.  He also failed to provide requested documentation to the State Bar in association with a grievance [...]

On August 18, 2015, Paul Brock was suspended from the practice of law for two years.  Brock began a dating/sexual relationship with a client during his representation of her during a child custody case, ended their dating relationship, and while continuing to represent her, continued to have sexual interactions.  Rather than encouraging her to seek other counsel, because he feared she would divulge their relationship to another attorney, he continued to represent her.  She eventually found [...]

On July 31, 2015, Dawn Donleycott Johnson Warren’s petition for a stay of the remaining of her suspension period was denied.  Johnson Warren was suspended on September 19, 2012, for three years.  As part of her terms of suspension, she was to submit her law license and membership card to the State Bar within thirty days, file an affidavit with the State Bar within ten days of the effective date, and pay the administrative fees and costs of the disciplinary action within thirty days, all of [...]