Chief Justice William Waller, Jr.
JACKSON, Miss. (Legal Newsline) - If two asbestos attorneys found to have defrauded a railroad company do not win their appeal, they should be permanently disbarred, the Mississippi Bar Association says.
The Bar's complaints against Thomas Brock and William Guy were scheduled to be heard by the Mississippi Supreme Court this week. A jury determined in March that the two hid their clients' previous involvements in an asbestos action from Illinois Central Railroad, which paid the two clients a total of $210,000.
The Bar says it is the type of conduct that warrants an immediate suspension from the practice of law "until the time for appeal of the judgment has expired or the appeal is concluded without reversal, at which time, upon motion filed by the Bar, (the attorneys) should be immediately disbarred," the Bar's motions say.
Guy and Brock have appealed the verdict, as well as an order that forces them to pay more than $500,000 of Illinois Central's nearly $1 million in attorneys fees.
A federal judge found Illinois Central's attorneys fees were excessive and that Guy and Brock should not have to pay all of them. Because of the ruling, Illinois Central is in danger of spending more than it will recover in the lawsuit.
From Legal Newsline: Reach John O'Brien by e-mail at jobrienwv@gmail.com.