Firm Theft, Firm Discipline

The South Carolina Supreme Court has disbarred an attorney who converted fees due to his law firm.

According to the court

In November 2009, respondent was admitted to the South Carolina Bar. In June 2011, respondent became employed with Law Firm as an associate with a salary of $24,000 per year. In August 2012, respondent’s compensation structure changed to a “commission only” arrangement in which he received 50% of the fees he generated above a monthly amount for overhead.

Respondent worked alone in a satellite office and was permitted to accept cases and set fees with relative autonomy. Law Firm utilized an electronic practice management system in which respondent would create a memo for each new case that would be transmitted to a staff member who would, in turn, create an electronic client file. When respondent received fees from clients, he would physically deliver those payments to Law Firm’s main office, where staff would process the deposits.

During 2012 and 2013, respondent converted approximately $4,000.00 in client fee payments to his own use by two methods. One method involved accepting fees from new clients (in the form of cash or a money order or check payable to respondent), then using those fees for personal use rather than delivering the fees to Law Firm. Respondent covered this diversion of fees from Law Firm by handling client cases without creating an opening memo or an electronic case file. The other method involved accepting cash payment from Law Firm clients and delivering part of the funds to the firm and converting the remainder to his own use. Respondent covered this diversion of fees by altering documents to reflect a fee of an amount less than what the client actually paid. Law Firm discovered respondent’s misappropriation, terminated his employment, and filed a disciplinary complaint.

The attorney admitted the ethical violations. The court made the disbarment effective as of October 2013. (Mike Frisch)