In re James

747 S.E.2d 169, 405 S.C. 17, 2013 WL 3929157, 2013 S.C. LEXIS 194
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedJuly 31, 2013
DocketAppellate Case No.2013-001165; No. 27291
StatusPublished

This text of 747 S.E.2d 169 (In re James) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re James, 747 S.E.2d 169, 405 S.C. 17, 2013 WL 3929157, 2013 S.C. LEXIS 194 (S.C. 2013).

Opinion

PER CURIAM.

In this attorney disciplinary matter, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC) and respondent have entered into an [19]*19Agreement for Discipline by Consent (Agreement) pursuant to Rule 21 of the Rules for Lawyer Disciplinary Enforcement (RLDE) contained in Rule 418 of the South Carolina Appellate Court Rules (SCACR). In the Agreement, respondent admits misconduct and consents to disbarment. He requests the disbarment be made retroactive to November 15, 2011, the date of his interim suspension. In the Matter of James, 395 S.C. 333, 718 S.E.2d 430 (2011). In addition, respondent agrees to pay the costs incurred in the investigation and prosecution of this matter by ODC and the Commission on Lawyer Conduct (the Commission) within thirty (30) days of the imposition of discipline. Further, within sixty (60) days of the imposition of discipline, respondent agrees to enter into a payment plan to pay restitution as enumerated hereafter. We accept the Agreement and disbar respondent from the practice of law in this state, not retroactive to the date of respondent’s interim suspension. In addition, respondent shall pay the costs incurred by ODC and the Commission in the investigation and prosecution of this matter within thirty (30) days of the date of this opinion and shall, within sixty (60) days of the date of this opinion, enter into a payment plan with the Commission to pay restitution as set forth hereafter in this opinion. The facts, as set forth in the Agreement, are as follows.

Facts

Matter I

From 2003 until his interim suspension in November 2011, respondent was a solo practitioner. His practice focused primarily on real estate matters, but he also handled probate matters.

Respondent maintained two trust accounts at Conway National Bank. One account was for real estate transactions; the other was for all other client matters. Respondent did not fully comply with the recordkeeping and reconciliation requirements set forth in Rule 417, SCACR, for either account. Respondent’s monthly reconciliation process consisted of comparing his monthly bank statement to his client settlement statements, then checking off items on the settlement statements as those items cleared. Once all items on a settlement [20]*20statement cleared, respondent shredded the settlement statement. Respondent did not maintain client ledgers for six years as required by Rule 417. Other violations of Rule 417 included failure to create or maintain reconciliation reports. As a result of respondent’s lack of records, a complete accounting of funds is not possible.

Matter II

Respondent conducted a real estate closing in which his client was purchasing property from a state agency. Respondent issued the purchase money check from his real estate trust account to the state agency on July 13, 2011, even though he had not received the funds to cover the check from his client. Respondent asked the state agency to hold the check until the deed was received and recorded. On July 28, 2011, respondent informed the state agency it could negotiate the check. The check was returned for insufficient funds because the client’s funds were not credited to the trust account until July 29, 2011.

Matter III

From 2007 through 2011, respondent issued approximately $1,407,928.00 in checks payable to himself or to his law firm from his real estate trust account. Records produced by respondent reflect approximately $182,572.00 of the funds were earned fees. Respondent’s records are not sufficient to explain the difference of approximately $1,225,356.00 in disbursements.

However, it can be determined that, sometime in 2010, respondent could not cover the disbursement in a real estate closing because the balance in his real estate trust account was insufficient. From that point forward, respondent engaged in a pattern of using funds received for one real estate closing to pay off the loan in a. previous closing.

A

In January 2011, respondent conducted a cash closing for Client A. Client A wired $487,883.31 to respondent’s real estate trust account for the purchase of the property. Respondent was supposed to use the funds to pay off the seller’s [21]*21mortgage of approximately $435,132.03. After the deposit of Client A’s funds, respondent paid the commissions and other closing costs, but did not have sufficient funds to pay off the loan. The balance in respondent’s real estate trust account at the end of January 2011 was only $148,577.99.

In February 2011, respondent used the remaining funds from Client A to pay off the loan in a prior closing. The payoff of the loan in the prior closing left only $74.00 in the trust account. The seller’s mortgage in the Client A closing remained unpaid.

In March 2011, respondent -conducted a real estate closing for Client B. Respondent used the funds received for Client B’s closing to issue a check for $200,000.00 as a partial payment on the seller’s loan in the Client A closing.

In May 2011, respondent borrowed $225,000.00 from Mr. Doe, a client and friend. Respondent deposited that money into his trust account and used the money to pay off the loan in the Client B closing and to make monthly payments on the balance of the loan in the Client A closing.

In August 2011, respondent attempted to make arrangements to borrow another $200,000.00 from Mr. Doe. Respondent intended to deposit the proceeds of this second loan into his operating account and then transfer it to his real estate trust account to pay off the balance in the Client A closing. Before respondent received the money, he wrote a check for $200,000.00 from his operating account and deposited it into his real estate trust account. He then arranged to wire funds to pay off the balance of the loan in the Client A closing. At the time respondent wrote the operating account check and sent the wire from his real estate trust account, he knew he had not deposited funds to cover these transactions.

Ultimately, respondent did not receive a second loan from Mr. Doe. The operating account check failed to clear because respondent never deposited the funds to cover it. As a result, $200,000.00 was charged back to respondent’s trust account. In the meantime, respondent’s title insurance company paid the seller’s loan in the Client A closing.

[22]*22 B.

On July 31, 2011, Client C wired $10,600.00 to respondent’s real estate trust account for the purchase of a time share from the trust of an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s disease. The transaction was scheduled to close in September 2011. Respondent transferred the time share but did not pay the seller’s trust.

From the date of the receipt of Client C’s wire until August 31, 2011, respondent issued nine checks from his real estate trust account payable to his law firm totaling $11,280.00. Respondent’s records are insufficient to determine whether or not any of these payments were legitimate, however, none of these payments were made on behalf of Client C. The balance in the real estate trust account fell below the amount of the Client C deposit eleven times in August and September 2011. Funds were not available to cover Client C’s closing at the time of respondent’s interim suspension in November 2011.

C.

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Related

In re James
718 S.E.2d 430 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 2011)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
747 S.E.2d 169, 405 S.C. 17, 2013 WL 3929157, 2013 S.C. LEXIS 194, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-james-sc-2013.