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Milligan v. Board of Professional Responsibility of the Supreme Court of Tennessee6/28/2005
I. Facts and Procedural History
Milligan is an attorney whose practice in Knoxville consists, in the main, of personal injury and malpractice matters. This case involves three disciplinary complaints-two that allege misappropriation of clients' funds and one that alleges fraudulent conduct in representing a client.
Initially, two complaints were lodged against Milligan. The first, herein referred to as the "Howard Matter," alleged that Milligan had misappropriated funds from his client trust account. According to the complaint, Milligan wrote a check in the amount of $216.67 from his client trust account to his then-associate, G. Turner Howard, as commission for settlement of a client's lawsuit. Upon presentment to the bank, the check was dishonored, and the reason given was "insufficient funds." Milligan later paid Howard by cashier's check.
The second complaint, herein referred to as the "Johnson Matter," alleged that Milligan settled Kerry Johnson's personal injury claim for $16,000 without having first consulted Johnson, forged the signatures on the release and the check, procured a Notary Public in his office to falsely notarize the release, and deposited the funds into his personal account. Based on these two complaints, the Board, on April 26, 2000, filed a Petition for Temporary Suspension of Milligan's law license. On May 5, 2000, this Court granted the petition.
On June 19, 2000, this Court reinstated Milligan's license, pending a full disciplinary hearing. The reinstatement was conditioned upon Milligan employing Terry Hall, a Certified Public Accountant, to oversee the ongoing finances of Milligan's law practice and upon Milligan employing Leroy Bible, a Certified Fraud Examiner, to review some of Milligan's law office accounts. It was agreed that Bible would report those findings to the Board.
On August 17, 2000, the Board filed a Petition for Discipline against Milligan. The petition alleged, in pertinent part, the substance of the Howard and Johnson Matters.
On May 22, 2001, a third complaint, herein referred to as the "Bible Matter," was lodged. That complaint was based on a report submitted to disciplinary counsel by Leroy Bible; the report summarized Bible's review of Milligan's office accounts for the year 1999. According to Bible, there were financial improprieties in the firm's accounts, including its client trust account. He stated further that Milligan had not cooperated with his review. On August 23, 2001, the Board filed a Supplemental Petition for Discipline, essentially asserting the allegations in the Bible Matter.
A full disciplinary hearing before a panel of the Board was held on August 19-20, 2002. In the Howard Matter, the Hearing Panel concluded that Milligan had, in fact, misappropriated funds. Although the Panel acknowledged that the check to G. Turner Howard had been later paid by cashier's check, it noted that Milligan did not deny that the check had been returned for insufficient funds. Accordingly, the Hearing Panel found that Milligan had violated Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 8, Disciplinary Rule ("DR") 1-102(A)(4), (5), and (6); and DR 9-102(B)(3).
In the Johnson Matter, the Hearing Panel found that in April 1999, Kerry Johnson retained Milligan in a personal injury matter arising out of an automobile accident. Milligan later settled the suit for $16,000. Milligan admitted that he affixed the Johnsons' names to the settlement check and release. He further admitted that he procured a notary in his office to falsely notarize the release document. Moreover, he admitted that in January 2000, he placed the settlement funds directly into his personal account and used
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