Charlotte attorney suspended for three years

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Attorney: Meg Sohmer Wood

Location: Charlotte

Bar membership: Member since 2001

Disciplinary action: Suspended from the practice of law for three years on April 11. The suspension is stayed for three years so long as Wood complies with certain conditions.

Background: In or around 2018, Wood established Carolina Legal Services, which provided services including debt adjusting (acting as a paid intermediary between a debtor and their creditors for the purpose of settling debts), which in North Carolina can be done only by an attorney. Out-of-state companies not licensed to practice law provided most of the services to CLS’s clients, thereby engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. As the majority owner of CLS, Wood failed to ensure that her clients’ entrusted funds were deposited and maintained in an attorney trust account, failed to adequately supervise these non-lawyer employees, aided others in the unauthorized practice of law, aided others in committing a criminal act, and permitted false and misleading statements to be made about her services.

Previous discipline: None

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].