The Tennessee Supreme Court today upheld the suspension of a Shelby County attorney’s law license for violating the ethics rules for lawyers. The lawyer, Daryl A. Gray, was the subject of two complaints to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility, which enforces the ethics rules for lawyers.
The first complaint arose from Mr. Gray’s improper handling of funds after he settled a client’s personal injury lawsuit. Although one of the client’s medical providers had a valid lien against a portion of the settlement funds, Mr. Gray refused to pay those funds to the provider, and he falsely said that other medical providers had asserted claims to the settlement proceeds. The second complaint arose from Mr. Gray’s misconduct in a different personal injury lawsuit. In that lawsuit, Mr. Gray filed the action against the wrong defendant and never served the amended complaint on the correct defendant; he did not adequately communicate with his client about a motion to dismiss; and he failed to timely withdraw from representing the client even after he told the client he no longer represented him.
A hearing panel heard evidence on both complaints. It concluded that Mr. Gray violated six ethics rules and decided that the appropriate sanction was a six-month suspension, with two months active suspension and the remainder on probation.
Mr. Gray challenged the suspension. He argued that there was not enough evidence to support it, that the hearing panel’s decision was arbitrary and capricious, and that the hearing panel abused its discretion. He also argued that the sanction imposed on him was excessive under the circumstances.
The Tennessee Supreme Court rejected Mr. Gray’s challenge and affirmed the hearing panel’s determinations. The Court concluded that the hearing panel’s determinations that Mr. Gray violated the ethics rules were supported by substantial and material evidence. It also held that the hearing panel had not been arbitrary or capricious and that it did not abuse its discretion. Finally, it held that the sanction was justified under the standards published by the American Bar Association. The Court affirmed the suspension of Mr. Gray’s Tennessee law license.
To read the unanimous opinion in Gray v. Board of Professional Responsibility, authored by Justice Sarah K. Campbell, click here.