TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on May 17, 2023

Former Memphis attorney Leigh M. Chiles pled guilty in connection with a scheme to defraud an estate over which she was appointed to serve as executrix, U.S. Attorney Kevin G. Ritz recently announced. Chiles was appointed executrix in 2018 and was responsible for collecting estate assets and distributing them to heirs and beneficiaries. In violation of her fiduciary duty, Chiles used approximately $124,000 in estate funds to write checks to herself and to pay her personal credit card. The ABA Journal reports that Chiles had worked at Baker Donelson in Memphis but was no longer with the firm when the criminal activity occurred. She was suspended from practicing law in July 2018. Chiles, currently of Little Rock, will face sentencing before Memphis-based federal judge John T. Fowlkes on July 17.

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