The Lawyer Was A Thief

The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the criminal conviction of a former attorney on charges of theft and falsely holding himself out as an attorney in a 92-page opinion

The charges in this case arose when Defendant, a licensed attorney, deposited retainer fees paid by clients into his firm’s operating account and personal checking account, which frequently had negative balances, and thereafter failed to perform the agreed-upon legal work and failed to refund the retainer fees. Additionally, Defendant transferred client funds from an insurance settlement, and several estate, divorce, and child support settlements from his firm’s trust account into his firm’s operating account and his personal account where such funds were depleted. After Defendant was suspended from practicing law, he continued representing clients, taking fees, and providing legal advice without advising clients that his license to practice law had been suspended.

Defendant was indicted for nineteen counts of theft of property, eight counts of falsely holding oneself out as a lawyer, and one count of the unlawful practice of law. The Grand Jury later returned two additional indictments charging Defendant with ten counts of theft and three counts of falsely holding himself out as a lawyer. The trial court consolidated the three indictments for one trial.

Theft

Defendant argues that the evidence was insufficient to support his convictions of theft in the retainer fee cases because he lacked the intent to deprive the victims of their money, “as he always planned to work on their cases to reach a satisfactory resolution.” He further contends that he provided “extensive testimony” of the work he completed on the victim’s cases, although he conceded that there was “certainly more work” to be done to get them resolved. Therefore, he asserts that the evidence in this case demonstrates that there was a fee dispute rather than intent to commit theft. The State disagrees.

The court agreed with the State.

Holding out as an attorney

“It is unlawful for any person, either directly or indirectly, falsely to advertise the person as, or hold the person out as, a lawyer.” T.C.A. § 23-3-108(a). Defendant argues that the evidence is insufficient to sustain his convictions for falsely holding oneself out as a lawyer because Tennessee Code Annotated section 23-3-108(a) applies only to nonattorneys; that the statute is void for vagueness; and that the evidence does not show that he held himself out as a lawyer to victims Lisa Smelser (count nineteen), Mario Hererra (count five), Sharon Sullivan (count sixteen), Danielle Means (count seventeen), Rachell Scott (count twenty-one), and Jinny Broughton (count twenty-two). The State responds that application of Tennessee Code Annotated section 23-3-108(a) is not limited to nonattorneys, that the statute is not void for vagueness because it is a strict liability offense and does not require a mens rea, and that the record belies Defendant’s contentions that he did not provide legal advice or hold himself as a lawyer to the victims while his license to practice law was suspended.

The court

the proof is sufficient to show that Defendant falsely held himself out as a lawyer to the victims. Mr. Willis testified that the Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Defendant’s law license effective September 9, 2016. Pursuant to the suspension order, Defendant was not authorized to accept any new clients. As noted above, Mr. Willis testified that Defendant was prohibited from displaying “the indicia of a lawyer,” which meant that Defendant could not “look like, act like” or “sound like a lawyer.”

The court rejected a host of other contentions. 

we affirm the judgments of the trial court but remand for entry of judgment forms for those counts that were either nolle prosequied by the State before trial or dismissed during trial.

The Hendersonville Standard reported  on the case

Former Hendersonville attorney Andy Allman was sentenced to 35 years in prison on July 15 following a day-long hearing that included testimony from several of his former clients as well as friends and family members who asked for leniency from Criminal Court Judge Dee David Gay.

Allman, 53, was convicted by a Sumner County jury in November on 18 felony charges that included 12 counts of theft and six charges of the unauthorized practice of law in what prosecutors called a years-long pattern of defrauding his clients.

News Channel 5 Nashville reported on a subsequent guilty plea

This past summer Allman was convicted in a Sumner County Court of stealing money from dozens of clients and was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Prosecutors argued he took the money to live a lavish lifestyle. Still, Allman insisted he was innocent and appealed.

But not this time in Davidson County.

“When a narcissist like Mr. Alman is at play, they never learn their lesson. Apparently, he did here,” said assistant district attorney Chad Jackson.

It’s happened in the final case, involving 17-year-old Baylor Bramble.

In 2015 Baylor suffered a horrible head injury in a high school football game. The family sold a home left by a deceased grandfather … and sent the $230,000 to Allman for a trust to help pay for Baylor’s care.

The money disappeared.

Baylor’s father David testified before the judge.

“Mr. Allman did not cause my son’s injury, but he took away the opportunity for greater care and possible recovery,” said David Bramble.

Baylor died in 2021.

(Mike Frisch)