CHARLESTON – The state Supreme Court has suspended the license of a Charleston attorney for 90 days for his handling of a client’s personal injury settlement.
The court also ordered James M. Pierson to one year of supervised practice upon reinstatement and nine additional Continuing Legal Education credits in law office management with six specific to Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA) management as well as pay for costs of his disciplinary proceedings.
The state Lawyer Disciplinary Board initiated proceedings against Pierson in 2021.
According to the Supreme Court’s November 8 memorandum decision, Pierson was retained by a woman in December 2014 to represent her in a divorce. Two months later, she asked him to represent her in a personal injury claim related to a car accident. The personal injury claim was resolved in July 2016 with a $5,000 settlement.
Pierson would get $1,666.66 in attorney fees and $217.37 in advanced expenses while $1,260.88 would go to Nationwide and $362.78 to the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services for their separate subrogation claims. The client would get $1,492.31.
CMS sent bills to the client late in 2016, and she delivered the bills to Pierson. The bills weren’t paid, and the client ended up paying it in February 2017. A few months later, she hired attorney Shari Collias to represent her in a bankruptcy proceeding. Collias asked Pierson for files about the client.
Upon review of those files, Collias contacted another attorney to file a formal disciplinary complaint against Pierson for failing to execute a written contingent fee agreement and for failing to properly disburse the settlement funds for the subrogation claims.
Pierson responded to that complaint saying the client ran up a significant legal bill with him,b ut he agreed he had made errors in handling the subrogation claims. After the LDB filed its formal statement of charges against Pierson on July 23, 2021, it scheduled a hearing on the matter with the Hearing Panel Subcommittee. On the day of the hearing, Pierson gave the client a check for the amount she paid CMS plus interest. Pierson also testified he paid Nationwide from his firm’s general account because it hadn’t received the original check from his IOLTA account. In addition, he said a deposit of $2,734.25 from a farm sale was mistakenly deposited into his IOLTA account but was immediately fixed upon discovery.
HPS concluded Pierson intentionally and knowingly violated several Rules of Professional Conduct and violated his duties to his client, the public, the legal system and the legal profession. It noted several aggravating factors but no mitigating factors and made the recommendation for the suspension and other discipline. Pierson testified to experiencing medical issues which he believed to constitute mitigating factors, but he later conceded the issues did not occur during his representation of this client.
The Supreme Court adopted the HPS recommendation
Pierson was admitted to the State Bar in 1985, and he had four prior admonishments for violating Rules of Professional Conduct.
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals case number 21-0590
