MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Tennessee Supreme Court has suspended an attorney for two years for reportedly violating disciplinary rules.
In 2017, Shelby County attorney Gerald D. Waggoner, Jr. was suspended for three years for practicing law after he removed client funds from a trust account and converted them to his personal use.
According to the Supreme Court, he continued to communicate with former clients during that suspension.
The Board of Professional Responsibility filed petitions for discipline against Waggoner, stating that he continued to practice law after his suspension, mishandled cases involving children who had been injured in a car accident and did not refile a case after being dismissed.
A Board hearing panel also found that he had engaged in misconduct. They felt he should be suspended for four years.
On appeal, the Chancery Court reversed the decision and reduced his suspension to one year.
The Board appealed to the Tennessee Supreme Court.
Ultimately he was suspended for two years, with eighteen months served on active suspension.
The Court also "required him to pay restitution to the children, obtain additional continuing legal education, and engage a practice monitor during his probated suspension."
