North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Attorney: William R. Shilling
Location: Murphy
Bar membership: Member since 2004
Disciplinary action: Reprimanded on Feb. 16
Background: Shilling represented a client charged with several counts of abusing her child. While the criminal charges were pending, a parallel juvenile proceeding was pending related to custody of the child and termination of the client’s parental rights. Shilling emailed the attorney representing the child’s foster parents and offered to relinquish parental rights if the foster parents agreed to tell the district attorney that they would not allow the child to testify in the criminal matter. By asking the foster parents not to give relevant information to the district attorney in exchange for his client’s cooperation in the civil matter, Shilling engaged in conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice.
Previous discipline: Shilling was suspended from the practice of law for two years in February 2014. Shilling pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of child abuse, communicating threats, and violating a domestic violence protective order, and made multiple false statements to the bar in response to a grievance.
All information contained in the Bar Discipline Roundup is compiled and edited by Lawyers Weekly editor-in-chief David Donovan. He can be reached at [email protected]
