An attorney whose misconduct was the product of his failure to safeguard escrow account checks was suspended for 90 days by the South Carolina Supreme Court.

The allegations set forth in the Agreement relate to respondent’s actions as a closing attorney. As further background information, respondent served as a closing attorney for Belle Terre Title Company, which was located in a separate suite in the same building as respondent’s law office. Respondent’s trust account checks were housed in a locked cabinet in Belle Terre’s suite. In October 2008, there was a theft at Belle Terre’s office and forty blank checks were stolen from the checkbook for respondent’s trust account. The theft was not discovered initially because there was no forced entry to the office and the stolen checks were removed from the back of the checkbook. Near the end of November 2008, respondent was attempting to conduct a manual reconciliation of his trust account when he discovered inconsistencies in the check numbers. An investigation led to the arrest of the title agent’s brother and two accomplices. The persons responsible for the theft negotiated several of the stolen checks before being apprehended. Respondent sought criminal charges against the perpetrators and filed a civil lawsuit against them. Respondent also filed lawsuits against the banks that cashed the stolen checks. Respondent deposited his own funds to cover some of the losses in his trust account. Respondent cooperated at all times with law enforcement.

There were five real estate matters involved. (Mike Frisch)