In re Mays
The State Bar filed a complaint against W. Roy Mays III, alleging his violation of the following standards of Bar Rule 4-102: Standard 31 (d) (failure to provide written statement upon the conclusion of a contingency matter); Standard 45 (e) (knowingly engaging in illegal conduct or conduct contrary to a disciplinary rule); Standard 45 (f) (settling a matter without client authorization); Standard 63 (failure to keep complete records); Standard 65 (A) (commingling lawyer’s fund with his client’s); and Standard 68 (failure to respond to disciplinary authorities). Although Mays failed to respond timely to the Notice of Investigation, he answered the complaint and appeared at the evidentiary hearing before the special master.
The special master made the following findings of fact: Mays agreed to represent a client in a personal injury matter on a contingent basis, told the client her case had been settled and advised her to pick up her check representing the settlement proceeds. The client was unable to negotiate the check, however, until two days later when Mays deposited into his trust account personal funds received as payment from another client. Mays testified that the check represented settlement proceeds when the evidence showed to the contrary. Mays refused to provide the client an accounting of the settlement and failed to give her the case file upon her request. The special master found that Mays did not settle the client’s case, that he let the statute of limitations run and paid her out of his own funds, and that he “lied about what really happened in his conversations with her, in his untimely answer to the Notice of Investigation, and in his testimony during the evidentiary hearing.” Based on these findings, the special master took into consideration Mays’ prior disciplinary record of three public reprimands and an Investigative Panel reprimand. Although normally confidential, an Investigative
Disbarred.