Opinion ID: 1379246
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Second James Richard Bryant Matter

Text: Respondent made payments out of his escrow account on behalf of one client from funds deposited into that account on behalf of another client or personal funds deposited by himself. On January 6, 1998, Respondent wrote a check from his escrow account to Les Boles, marked closing, in the amount of $1,121.36. On the same day, Respondent wrote a check from his escrow account to Mark McCoy and Beckie McCoy for settlement of a personal injury case in the amount of $2,331. The balance the day before, January 5, was $2,076.04. The balance on January 7 was $76.04, due to a $2,000 check being written. On January 8, Respondent deposited personal funds, drawn upon a personal account shared by Respondent and his mother, in the amount of $3,700, less $1,539 cash, for a net deposit of $2,161. This brought the balance in the escrow account to $2,237.04 as of January 8, 1998. On January 9, 1998, the checks to Mr. Boles and the McCoys were posted and returned due to insufficient funds. The posting of these two checks, plus return fees of $23.00 each, brought the balance to$1,261.32 on January 9, 1998. On January 12, 1998, Respondent deposited $6,000, causing the checks to Mr. Boles and the McCoys to clear and restoring a positive balance. The source of the $6,000 was a settlement consisting of six checks arising from a personal injury case payable to Mark McCoy and Becky Hogue. Thus, Respondent used the McCoy/Hogue money to pay both the McCoy/Hogue claims and the Boles closing. In addition or in the alternative, Respondent used his own funds to pay these claims. Respondent failed to respond to subsequent inquiries and investigation into this matter.