The Supreme Judicial Court has recently disbarred a Boston, Massachusetts. In the matter of Kirk Y. Griffin, an attorney admitted to using client funds for personal expenses over a period of eight years. After learning of the attorney’s conduct, the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers (“BBO”) initiated an investigation and then filed a petition for discipline against the attorney.
In response, the attorney filed an Affidavit of Resignation,admitting that he had failed to hold the funds and property he had recovered as the executor of a client’s estate separate from his own property. The attorney also admitted that he had not kept proper records for his Interest on Lawyer’s Trust Account (“IOLTA”). Both of these actions constituted violations of the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct Rule 1.15. The BBO also discovered that the attorney had previously been suspended by the Court, but he had failed to timely notify his clients or withdraw from his current cases, which was a violation of Mass. R. Prof. C. Rule 8.4.
As a result of these violations, the BBO recommended disbarment. The Supreme Judicial Court accepted the attorney’s resignation, and ordered that he be disbarred from practicing law in Massachusetts.
Decision: In Re: Kirk Y. Griffin