The Maine Supreme Judicial Court issued the ruling against Christopher Whalley on Feb. 17.
The Maine Monitor reports
An attorney being monitored by two state agencies had his license to practice law suspended amid allegations that he improperly took money from a client.
Christopher Whalley was immediately suspended from practicing law by a Maine court on Feb. 17. An investigation and complaint by the Board of Overseers of the Bar alleged that he wrote 47 checks worth $189,375 from an estate he was representing to his law firm and a trust account.
Christopher James Whalley.
The “… withdrawals from the account follow a pattern consistent with misuse of, or embezzlement of estate funds… ,” according to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to suspend him.
Whalley did not respond to a voicemail seeking comment from The Maine Monitor. His Ellsworth law firm’s website and Facebook page were no longer accessible as of Feb. 23.
Whalley was already being monitored by the Board of Overseers as a condition of a one-year license suspension, after he admitted to forging a client signature, notarizing the signature, submitting the document to a court and instructing his client in a message to “… Remenber (sic) that’s your signature,” court records show.
Justice Ann Murray of the Penobscot Superior Court ordered Whalley to seek a psychological evaluation and treatment in April 2021 as a condition of his suspension. Whalley was allowed to continue practicing law during his suspension, in part because of court-appointed legal services he provides to the state, according to the court’s decision.
“Maine courts have also considered an attorney’s legal service benefiting the community as a mitigating factor,” Murray wrote in her April 2021 order. “… Mr. Whalley’s practice in large measure is devoted to representing court appointed clients in criminal and child protection matters.”
The Maine Commission on Indigent Legal Services, or MCILS, is responsible for ensuring that defendants who cannot afford to hire their own are appointed lawyers at the state’s expense. To continue representing indigent clients during his suspension, Whalley signed an agreement in June 2021 to also be monitored by MCILS, records obtained by The Maine Monitor show.
MCILS agreed to pause its investigation into Whalley’s conduct during the court’s probationary period and dismiss its investigation if he successfully completed his probationary conditions, according to a copy of the agreement.
Justin Andrus, the executive director of MCILS, indefinitely suspended Whalley from working on court-appointed cases on Feb. 22 and reassigned his clients to new attorneys.
“I have no comment about attorney Whalley’s performance with respect to MCILS other than to confirm that he is not eligible to receive additional clients,” Andrus told The Maine Monitor.
Read more at https://www.themainemonitor.org/license-suspended-after-lawyer-allegedly-takes-189000-from-estate/
