North Carolina Bar Transparency: Nobody Does It Better

The highly informative quarterly report of the North Carolina State Bar Office of Counsel for April 2018 has been posted. 

Case highlights

Jesse W. Jones – 16 DHC 17 Jones yelled and cursed at opposing counsel and opposing parties and was otherwise disruptive on multiple occasions. The DHC suspended him for one year. The suspension is stayed for three years upon Jones’ compliance with numerous conditions.

Jeffrey S. Miller – 18 DHC 13 Miller, of Jacksonville, agreed that his client would not file a Bar grievance against the client’s former attorney if the attorney would pay money to settle a dispute between them. He was reprimanded by the DHC.

The Chair of the DHC entered an interim suspension of the law license of David R. Payne of Marshall. Payne pled guilty to the federal felony offense of knowingly making false statements for the purpose of influencing a federally-insured lending institution in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1014.

A case involving a former Durham County District Attorney

Tracey Cline – 12 DHC 22 & 17 BSR 8 Cline was the elected district attorney of Durham County until she was removed from office pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. §7A-66. In June 2015, Cline was suspended by the DHC for five years for filing pleadings containing false and outrageous statements about a judge and making false representations in court filings in an attempt to obtain confidential prison visitation records. After she served two years of the suspension, Cline was eligible to petition for a stay of the balance upon demonstrating compliance with enumerated conditions. Cline filed a petition for a stay but did not appear at the hearing on that petition. The DHC denied the petition on December 20, 2017. Also on December 20, 2017, Cline filed a second petition for a stay of the suspension. The DHC denied the second petition after a hearing on April 6.

Stayed proceedings

Bradley R. Lamb – 07 DHC 28 Lamb, formerly of Pittsboro, was convicted in Florida of promoting the sexual performance of a child, lewd or lascivious exhibition, and solicitation of a child over the Internet, and is currently serving a fifteen-year prison sentence. The DHC stayed the proceedings until Lamb is released. His release date is currently forecasted for October 2019. The Chair of the DHC entered an order of interim suspension of his law license.

And pending case highlights

Craig M. Blitzer – 17 DHC 23 Blitzer, of Reidsville, is the former elected district attorney of Rockingham County. It is alleged that Blitzer allowed his staff to take online academic tests for his wife on State time. The grievance has been stayed pending the availability of the SBI investigative report. Blitzer pled guilty in Wake County Superior Court to misdemeanor willful failure to discharge duties. The Chair of the DHC entered an order of interim suspension of his law license.

Matthew A. Smith – 18 DHC 1 Smith was convicted in Wake County of taking indecent liberties with a child, a felony, in violation of N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1. The Chair of the DHC entered an interim suspension of his law license.

Arnold O. Jones – 18 DHC 3 Jones, of Goldsboro, was convicted of the federal felony of promising and paying gratuities to a public official in violation of 18 U.S.C. 201(c)(1)(A) for attempting to induce a law enforcement officer to unlawfully obtain the text messages of Jones’s wife. Hearing has not been scheduled.

Litigation highlights

North Carolina State Bar v. Michael Asen. The Executive Committee authorized the Office of Counsel to file a lawsuit against Michael Asen, a New York attorney who offers to provide legal services in North Carolina to retail stores that have been victimized by shoplifters. The parties are negotiating a consent order.

North Carolina State Bar v. Freedom Debt Relief. The Executive Committee authorized the Office of Counsel to file a lawsuit against Freedom Debt Relief, a California business that offers debt adjusting to consumers. Freedom Debt relief has been sued in federal court in California by the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB). The State Bar is monitoring that suit before pursuing the authorized claims.

Christopher Livingston v. North Carolina State Bar and 13th Judicial District Bar (US District Court for the Eastern District of NC). Livingston alleges that he was required to pay mandatory dues to the 13th Judicial District Bar, that such dues were unnecessary, and that the dues were used for purposes with which he disagreed. He purports to assert claims under 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988 for injunctive relief and claims for actual and punitive damages for alleged violations of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the Law-of-the-Land and Equal Protection clauses of the North Carolina constitution. The State Bar was served with the complaint on April 5, 2018.

In Re Phillip Entzminger (Pitt County Superior Court). The Pitt County Superior Court issued an order for Entzminger, an assistant district attorney in Pitt County, to show cause why he should not be held in criminal contempt and why he should not be disciplined for violating the Rules of Professional Conduct. The show cause order alleged that Entzminger filed a document that showed disregard for the dignity of the court, demonstrated undignified and discourteous conduct that was degrading to the court and that bred disrespect for the court and the legal profession, and made false statements to the court. The court appointed the State Bar to prosecute.

Lena Watts-Robinson v. North Carolina State Bar and Disciplinary Hearing Commission (Wake County Superior Court). Watts-Robinson was disbarred by the DHC on December 4, 2014. On December 1, 2017, she filed a lawsuit against the State Bar and the DHC alleging negligent misrepresentation and negligent infliction of emotional distress, asserting that the State Bar was negligent in its argument before the DHC and that the DHC was negligent in its order of discipline. Motions to dismiss are pending. The Office of Counsel represents the State Bar and the Attorney General represents the DHC.

Kareem Abdullah Kirk-Bey v. North Carolina State Bar (NC Office of Administrative Hearings). The Grievance Committee dismissed a grievance filed by Kirk-Bey. Kirk-Bey filed
a petition for a contested case hearing alleging that the Grievance Committee did not take the action he desired. Kirk-Bey did not comply with the first and second orders for prehearing statement. OAH dismissed the claim on February 7, 2018. Kirk-Bey did not appeal. The Attorney General represented the State Bar.

North Carolina remains the gold standard for bar transparency. (Mike fFisch)