Nashville lawyer Lawrence Buford Hammet II received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court today. The court found that Hammet withdrew disputed funds from his client trust account and paid himself a fee that exceeded the amount his client allegedly agreed on. The client filed a civil suit against Hammet that was appealed after trial. The appeals court found that Hammet failed to keep the disputed funds in his trust account until the dispute was resolved and that he improperly calculated his fees which were unreasonable. The appeals court awarded judgment to the client in the amount of $67,335.69 and remanded the case to the trial court for a determination of pre-judgment interest. The trial court subsequently awarded pre-judgment interest of $22,092.10. As a condition of the censure, Hammet must satisfy the judgments against him on or before Jan. 19, 2021. His actions were determined to violated Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5 and 1.15(e).

Hamilton County lawyer Wilfred Shawn Clelland received a public censure from the Tennessee Supreme Court today. In 2017, Clelland settled a client’s personal injury claim and received settlement funds, but the proceeds were subject to outstanding medical bills and/or liens. The court found that Clelland performed little, if any, work in negotiating the liens for over three years, and (1) failed to provide updates to the client, (2) held settlement funds in his IOLTA account for three years, and (3) provided false or misleading statements to his client. These actions violated the following Rules of Professional Conduct: 1.3, 1.4 (a)(3), 1.15 and 8.4.

Shelby County attorney Addie Marie Burks on Jan. 15 received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility. Burks received funds from a client’s case in November 2019, but did not distribute the funds until August 2020, when she directly distributed the funds to the client instead of resolving existing medical liens. Burks did not have a written fee agreement for a contingency fee, and she commingled a small portion of her fee with client funds when she failed to timely remove her entire fee from trust. Burks also failed to timely distribute a small amount to a medical provider for over two years in another matter for the same client. She is required to attend the BPR’s Trust Account Workshop in March.

Knox County attorney Nicholas D. Bunstine today received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility. Bunstine represented a client in defense of a civil proceeding brought by the client’s mother for rescission of a quit claim deed. While the suit remained pending, the mother of Bunstine’s client decided to no longer have the quit claim deed rescinded. Bunstine prepared an affidavit for the mother’s signature confirming her changed position and provided the affidavit to his client. Bunstine’s client presented the affidavit to her mother, who proceeded to execute the affidavit. Bunstine filed a motion to dismiss the suit based upon the content of the affidavit, which was granted by the Court. At all relevant times during the representation, Bunstine was aware that his client’s mother was represented by counsel. Therefore, Bunstine was found in violation of Rules of Professional Conduct 4.2 regarding communication with a person represented by counsel and 8.4(d) for misconduct.

Nashville lawyer Samantha Flener was yesterday given a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Flener was licensed to practice law only in the state of New York when she relocated to Tennessee and began work at a firm. She applied for permission to be admitted by UBE Score Transfer with the Board of Law Examiners and her application referenced the need to apply for practice pending admission if she was currently working in Tennessee as a lawyer or other law-related position. Flener did not apply for practice pending admission and was not authorized to practice law in the state until after she had been employed as a firm lawyer for a period of eight months, thus violating Rule of Professional Conduct 5.5 on unauthorized practice of law. A censure is a rebuke and warning to the attorney, but  does not affect the attorney’s ability to practice law.

Shelby County attorney Eric John Montierth today received a public censure from the Board of Professional Responsibility of the Tennessee Supreme Court for failing to timely file an appellate brief in two criminal cases. The court ordered Montierth to file the brief within 10 days and Montierth failed to do so and did not ask for an extension of time. He appeared before the court months later to explain his conduct in both cases and the court accepted the late-filed brief in each case. It was found that Montierth’s conduct resulted in potential harm to his clients and he was issued the censure. A public censure is a rebuke and warning to the attorney, but it does not affect the attorney’s ability to practice law.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today issued a public censure for Shelby County lawyer Jahari Mabry Dowdy. The court found that Dowdy violated Rules of Professional Conduct 1.15, 5.1 and 5.3 when she paid a portion of her client’s rent arrears before receiving funds to cover the check, failed to take proper remedial action after becoming aware of the error, and eventually comingled personal funds with trust account funds to cover the check. In addition to imposing the censure, the court directed Dowdy to attend a trust account workshop on March 24.

The Tennessee Supreme Court today permanently disbarred Knox County lawyer James Lester Kennedy from the practice of law. The court took the action after finding that Kennedy distributed attorneys’ fees and personal expenses in a probate matter to himself and others who were not authorized to receive the funds. The court also found that Kennedy failed to demonstrate good faith, diligence, prudence and caution as well as loyalty and fidelity to the estate as required. His actions violated Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct 1.3, 3.4 and 8.4 (c) and (d).

The Tennessee Supreme Court today suspended McNairy County lawyer Bobby Gene Gray from the practice of law for three years, with eight months to be served on active suspension and the remainder to be served on probation. Gray admitted taking controlled substances from an evidence room while he served as an assistant district attorney. He pleaded guilty to official misconduct, theft of less than $1,000 and simple possession of a controlled substance, and received judicial diversion. The court said these actions violated Rules of Professional Conduct 8.4 (b) and (c).

The Tennessee Supreme Court yesterday ordered the law license of Tennessee lawyer Deon Devall Owensby be transferred to disability inactive status. Owensby may not practice law on inactive status but may petition the court for reinstatement by showing that his disability has been removed.