TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Sullivan County Lawyer Censured

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 17, 2025
News Type: BPR Actions

Sullivan County lawyer Steven Carl Frazier received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court on April 17. The court found that Frazier violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4(a), 1.5(a) & (b) and 1.15(a) & (b). It conditioned the censure on refunding his client $2,500 within 30 days. Frazier was retained by the client for representation in a property boundary dispute. The court found that Frazier did not deposit the retainer fee into his trust account and wrongfully commingled the client funds with his own. The court also found that he did not track his time, issue an invoice for legal services, or communicate the rate of his fee or expenses the client would pay. He also did not obtain a signed explanation of the parties’ intent and amount of non-refundable funds. He later stopped responding to the client’s requests for updates and took no further action on the case. Finally, the court found that while Frazier offered to refund one-half of the client’s fees three years after the client filed a disciplinary complaint, the fees were never refunded.

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