Three local lawyers were recently put in the professional equivalent of time out by the Virginia State Bar Association. A fourth got a scolding.
In one case, Bradley Douglas Wein, according to the bar’s account, put thousands of dollars paid by a client into his firm’s operating account rather than holding it in a trust account to be used toward expenses on the client’s case. Wein made several inconsistent statements regarding the matter and eventually admitted his mistakes but blamed it on his secretary. Wein had his license suspended for four years.
Click here for the full disciplinary document.
In another case described in the bar’s account, Wein ended up borrowing more than $25,000 from two of his clients, both of whom were on disability. He even drafted the promissory. He said that his clients knew he needed the money because of his marital problems, and he admitted he was going to use the money to expand his law practice.
He also helped the same clients create a trust to supposedly protect their real estate from creditors. He then drafted deeds of gift that transferred to property to himself.
Wein filed bankruptcy before he made any payments on the loan but eventually conveyed the real estate back to the clients. He ultimately admitted that he was sorry for his actions.
Carlotta Bernice Thompson, who had her own business, had her license revoked for violating several bar rules. The documents describing the actions that led to the revocation have not yet been made available.
The case of how Sara Davis Harman had her license suspended for three years dates back to a personal injury case she took on in 2003.
Harman, who at the time worked for David P. Baugh PC, was hired by the victim of a car accident to work out a settlement for property and personal injury.
The case was mismanaged, and several vital deadlines, including one to serve the defendant, were missed.
According to the bar, as the case dragged on, Harman left to start her own practice and recruited the defense attorney representing the other side to join forces with her.
After more than six years without any concrete answers and a settlement that never materialized, Harman’s client hired another lawyer to get to the bottom of it.
The client ultimately went after Harman for legal malpractice when the suit, after all those years, was dismissed because things were not filed in proper time. Read the full case here.
Finally, Donald Francis Lynch III, currently senior counsel at Mondial Assistance, received a public admonition from the bar related to $2 million case that he handled at a former employer, ultimately costing the company money through a default judgment.
Lynch, the bar found, openly acknowledged his mishandling of the case. And because of his cooperation and a previously clean conduct record, the bar let him off with a warning.
Lynch left the other firm in May 2007 and has been with Mondial since November 2007.
The file against Lynch can be found here.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].
Three local lawyers were recently put in the professional equivalent of time out by the Virginia State Bar Association. A fourth got a scolding.
In one case, Bradley Douglas Wein, according to the bar’s account, put thousands of dollars paid by a client into his firm’s operating account rather than holding it in a trust account to be used toward expenses on the client’s case. Wein made several inconsistent statements regarding the matter and eventually admitted his mistakes but blamed it on his secretary. Wein had his license suspended for four years.
Click here for the full disciplinary document.
In another case described in the bar’s account, Wein ended up borrowing more than $25,000 from two of his clients, both of whom were on disability. He even drafted the promissory. He said that his clients knew he needed the money because of his marital problems, and he admitted he was going to use the money to expand his law practice.
He also helped the same clients create a trust to supposedly protect their real estate from creditors. He then drafted deeds of gift that transferred to property to himself.
Wein filed bankruptcy before he made any payments on the loan but eventually conveyed the real estate back to the clients. He ultimately admitted that he was sorry for his actions.
Carlotta Bernice Thompson, who had her own business, had her license revoked for violating several bar rules. The documents describing the actions that led to the revocation have not yet been made available.
The case of how Sara Davis Harman had her license suspended for three years dates back to a personal injury case she took on in 2003.
Harman, who at the time worked for David P. Baugh PC, was hired by the victim of a car accident to work out a settlement for property and personal injury.
The case was mismanaged, and several vital deadlines, including one to serve the defendant, were missed.
According to the bar, as the case dragged on, Harman left to start her own practice and recruited the defense attorney representing the other side to join forces with her.
After more than six years without any concrete answers and a settlement that never materialized, Harman’s client hired another lawyer to get to the bottom of it.
The client ultimately went after Harman for legal malpractice when the suit, after all those years, was dismissed because things were not filed in proper time. Read the full case here.
Finally, Donald Francis Lynch III, currently senior counsel at Mondial Assistance, received a public admonition from the bar related to $2 million case that he handled at a former employer, ultimately costing the company money through a default judgment.
Lynch, the bar found, openly acknowledged his mishandling of the case. And because of his cooperation and a previously clean conduct record, the bar let him off with a warning.
Lynch left the other firm in May 2007 and has been with Mondial since November 2007.
The file against Lynch can be found here.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].