North Carolina Lawyers Weekly
Attorney: Willie Brooks
Location: Wake County
Bar membership: Since 1982
Disciplinary action: 4-year suspension
Background:
The defendant has been found guilty of failing to conduct monthly reconciliations of his trust account following a random audit to Brooks’ trust account by the North Carolina State Bar on March 6, 2019.
In addition to finding Brooks had failed to conduct the required monthly and quarterly trust account reconciliations, the audit showed that, (1) Brooks disbursed more funds from his trust account for clients than he had in the trust account for that client, (2) Brooks‘ client ledgers contained dates that did not reconcile with bank dates of deposit, (3) Brooks failed to sign, date, and maintain reconciliation reports, and (4) Brooks failed to maintain required records for his trust account.
These acts of professional misconduct are in violation of Rule 1. 15-3(d)(l), Rule l.15-3(d)(2), Rule l.15-3(d)(3), Rule l.15-3(b)(5), Rule 1.15-2(a), Rule l. 15-2(a), (k), and (n), Rule 1.8(e), Rule l.15-2(a) and (b).
Brooks also failed to timely and fully respond to the inquiries of the State Bar and the production requests of the State Bar made by inquiry and by subpoena, and therefore knowingly failed to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary matter in violation of Rule 8.1(b).
