Failed Gatekeeper Censured

The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility has imposed a public censure of an attorney. The news release on the matter reports:

[The attorney] represented to a client that he would help protect his business while the client was deployed overseas in Iraq. To that end, [the attorney] acted as gatekeeper in giving authorization to handle the client's real estate transactions. [The attorney] fell victim to fraud by entering into a proposed lucrative real estate transaction at the advice of an individual who had previously handled transactions for the client. [The attorney] failed to verfify the circumstances surrounding the real estate transaction and entered into a loan agreement on behalf of the client which contained terms adverse to the client and without the client's express consent. [His] conduct caused substantial monetary loss to the client and has resulted in the filing of civil litigation against the client.

(Mike Frisch)