Now And Forever

The Kentucky Supreme Court imposed permanent disbarment of an attorney for misconduct in multiple matters

a number of aggravating circumstances are present in this case. First, there was a pattern of misconduct that resulted in a total of eighteen disciplinary Charges. This pattern included, almost invariably: accepting fees from a client, performing little to no work on the case, blatantly lying to the client about the status of the case, and then refusing to refund the client’s fee or release the client’s file. And, each Charge resulted in numerous violations of the rules of professional conduct. Grayson was also convicted of a criminal charge that reflected her dishonesty and unfitness to practice law. She pled guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, a Class D felony. That conviction stemmed from her forging a judge’s signature on a Custody Order, which she then gave to a client. Grayson also engaged in bad faith obstruction in the disciplinary proceedings by failing to respond to six Inquiry Commission Charges and by failing to attend the March 16 hearing before the trial commissioner. Finally, we consider the vulnerability of the victims and the financial and legal hardships they endured due to Grayson’s misconduct as aggravating circumstances.

Standing alone, any of the foregoing aggravating circumstances could arguably warrant a five-year suspension. However, when considering them together, this Court can justify nothing less than permanent disbarment.

Mountain News WYMT covered the criminal matter. 

(Mike Frisch)