Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Brown suspended by Bar, grilled by Judge Grant

The Mississippi Supreme Court suspended attorney Michael J. Brown's license to practice law on February 16, 2012. The court ruled it will dissolve the order only when the attorney presents a certified copy of an order showing he purged himself of the contempt charge in Hinds County. Chancery Judge Dewayne Thomas threw Mr. Brown in jail after ruling he could not account for $3 million in the guardianship of Damon McClinton. Mr. Brown faced more scrutiny today after Rankin County Chancery Judge Grant ordered him to come to his courtroom to discuss another guardianship.

Judge Grant said in court today he "pulled" all estate and guardianship cases where Mr. Brown was the attorney to review for any possible malfeasance. The Chancellor ordered an accounting in the guardianship of minor Drake Bolland on February 7, 2012. The court appointed the parents of Drake Bolland, John and Melissa, guardians in 2007 after their son received a $15,000 settlement due to a fireworks-related injury. Michael J. Brown represented the parents. He told the court today they had been friends and went to the same church for a long time. The court established a guardianship for the child and directed the parents to place the funds into a federally insured bank where the funds were to remain until "further order" of the court.

Judge Grant subpoenaed the Bollands and Mr. Brown to appear in his court today. Judge Grant was not happy when he learned the parents removed the money from the account and placed it into other accounts such as checking and money markets. The Bollands apparently thought they could earn a better interest rate and said they were told by Brown they could do so without permission from the court. Judge Grant ordered the parents to place the funds back into the guardianship within 48 hours. In this case fate smiled upon little Drake Bolland because the funds actually increased in value thanks to market performance over the last two years.

Judge Grant said when the hearing began he was prepared to remove the Bollands as guardians but changed his mind after hearing their testimony. The Chancellor said they had "done wrong" but "they were led to act wrong by Mike Brown. He said they acted "inappropriately" but "no substantial damage was done" thanks to the Dow Jones. He ordered them to deposit $17,437 into an account at Merchants & Farmers Bank within 48 hours and ordered the bank to show proof they had done so (Principal and interest calculated at 1.25% since original transfer.). He then warned the couple: "If you mess up again, you will be in trouble." He also ordered M&F to keep the money from going "anywhere" without his approval. Judge Grant said "I'm supposed to be more conservative with Drake's money than what's in my own pocket." Judge Grant then lectured the couple on how serious his responsibility was in protecting Drake's interests.

However, this post is not about the mishandling of a child's small trust account but the behavior of an attorney in the courtroom today. Michael J. Brown did not appear at the hearing. Judge Grant sent deputies to his home during the hearing where they unsuccessfully tried to contact Mr. Brown. The attorney finally called the administrator and said he was en route to the courthouse. Mr. Brown showed up in blue jeans and a button down shirt. He assumed the stand after Judge Grant said "all right, I'd like to hear from Mr. Brown." Mr. Brown apologized to the judge for being late and said he had marked the hearing as February 23 on his calendar.

The suspended attorney said John Bolland asked him if he could move the funds into another account. Mr. Brown said "I think I contacted Judge Grant but I said the corpus could not be touched but they could move the interest." Mr. Brown made this assertion several times while on the stand. He said the "whole idea" was not to incur any attorney's fees. He said he told them the court order allowed them to move the interest but disclaimed any responsibility for moving the corpus.

Judge Grant asked Michael J. Brown "did you inform Mr. Bolland he needed a court order?" There was a long pause. Very long pause. Long pause as in the long pause after Karen Irby made her statement to Judge Green long pause. Judge Grant than had someone give the file to Michael J. Brown. The file was opened to the order establishing the guardianship. The gray-haired Chancellor, looking and sounding like stern Spencer Tracy in Judgment at Nuremberg, asked him where in the court order did it "say interest". Mr. Brown said "I don't see it." He then said "I could've swore it was in there" (Mr. Brown used the phrase "I could've swore" several more times during the hearing.). Mr. Brown said again "I could've swore it said you could move the interest."

Judge Grant said "just show me where it says it in there." Mr. Brown looked and looked through the order. He even removed his glasses and bent over, placing his face real close to the paper, studying each word. He said nothing. Mr. Bolland said the attorney said it was "ok" to make the transfer. Judge Grant again asked him if the order said anything about moving the interest. The attorney again said he "could've swore it was in there". Mr. Brown said several times he had gotten permission from Judge Grant during an ex parte discussion on another case. Judge Grant said he did not remember any such permission or conversation. Mr. Brown even said he never received a fee for the work performed in establishing the guardianship. Judge Grant finally drew the testimony to a close after Brown apologized to the Bowlands. The episode brought to mind Mr. Brown's claim in the McClinton case he could not return the bank statements and court file as water damage destroyed them.

Judge Grant heard enough and ordered Michael J. Brown to pay $71.50 in process fees within 24 hours. Judge Grant appointed Jeffrey Rimes and Clay Baldwin as attorneys for the guardianship. While everyone was leaving the courtroom, Mr. Brown asked to approach the bench. He asked Judge Grant "Judge, do you not remember we had that conversation in your chambers?" Judge Grant immediately and strongly said "I have no recollection and furthermore, I would never make a statement like that. This does not need to go any further." The Judge then left the courtroom in obvious disgust.



30 comments:

Anonymous said...

WTH, Kingfish is on top of it!

Anonymous said...

From what I've read about this Brown, Hinds County Chancellors have been really lax in allowing estates to go years without annual accountings. Years ago, in another jurisdiction, if you didn't file the annual accounting, you got a "show cause" notice from the Chancellor. What Judge Grant did, apparently prompted by the publicity on Brown, was normal operating procedure in that other jurisdiction [north end of Miss.].

Anonymous said...

the font on the verification is ridiculously hard to read.

Kingfish said...

Sorry about that. I removed the word verification last week and within two days this site was bombarded by spambots.

Anonymous said...

Brown's a liar and this Judge caught him at it. There is no telling how many more cases like this are out there. I know of one estate in Hinds County that he "handled" that has been open for almost ten years with no accounting or other action during all that time.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad to see good judges doing their jobs! This crook needs to be held accountable for all he's done. If only his license to practice law had been suspended sooner!

Anonymous said...

Re-elect Thomas, Grant!

Anonymous said...

Brown has too much access to estate cash. The ability to rob one estate to pay off another is wide open.

Anonymous said...

8:17- Yep, after BS'ing Thomas and Grant, he needs to account for and be removed from all estates NOW!

Anonymous said...

Brown is a joke! Society will be a lot safer with Brown and Shackelford behind bars!

Shadowfax said...

I believe the 'verification feature' is rather forgiving. I know for a fact it's passed a few of mine that I completely guessed at. Maybe it's set to 'sorta ok'. Quit bitching about it and follow the damned rules.

noel said...

I've appeared before Judge Grant and have found him to be a stand up guy. Even when he disregarded a motion that would have been in my favor. Stand up guy.

Anonymous said...

I hope he is never allowed to practice law ever again. The judge put him in his place when he started his lying....GOOD!

Anonymous said...

Someone commented on an earlier post that Brown was in thick with the Rankin county judges. Looks like there's at least one exception.

Anonymous said...

Aren't attorneys supposed to be good at reading every word in a legal document, including the fine print? "I could've swore it was in there," is something I would expect from a client--not an attorney.

I don't have much experience in a court room, except for a traffic court, but I'm smart enough to know you better respect the judge. How could an attorney (as the accused) be so stupid as to put the blame on the judge and accuse the judge of faulty memory? Wouldn't that be professional suicide?

Anonymous said...

The funniest part is him trying to tell the judge that they had discussed it in chambers. **wink, wink**. I don't know that judge but I have a lot of respect for him now!

Anonymous said...

I think Rankin is afraid that Hinds will let him walk and I do believe Rankin will make sure he fries!

Anonymous said...

Mike Brown still thinks he is a "smart guy"!

Anonymous said...

The irony is that the lawyer who is handling the guardianship or estate will draft the order for the judge to review and sign. If it's not in there it's because the lawyer did not put it in there. It's not like he was reading an order that someone else prepared.

Anonymous said...

Some attorneys think that if they luck up and win a case or two they automatically think they're a "smart guy". In Brown's case, that couldn't be farther from the truth!! He's a total moron.

Anonymous said...

Linus and Mike will win!

Anonymous said...

I've worked with Mike on several cases. He has a problem with running his mouth too much.

Anonymous said...

Mike Brown definitely has diarrhea of the mouth!!! Annoying, to say the least!

Anonymous said...

He is definitely full of it. Sounds like the only way he's going to wiggle out of this problem is to come up with the $3 million and a good explanation of where it's been for the past ten years. The chances of either of these things happening are slim to nil. That would possibly just keep him out of jail. He doesn't have much of a chance of avoiding disbarment.

Anonymous said...

When do Brown-Shackelford have to show the cash? Why didn't the judge include interest? Interest alone has got to be more than both of these guys gross. ):

Anonymous said...

Mike Brown was sentenced to jail on Feb 2 and Linus Shackelford smooth talked and whined and lied to the judge to keep from accompanying Brown on that day. Then, the judge said they had 40 days to come up with the money. That would make their deadline March 13. Is this still the case?

Anonymous said...

One of the earlier posts said March 20 was the day. I think that's what the C-L said also.

Anonymous said...

Mike Brown goes to church? What a joke.

Anonymous said...

Mike Brown goes to church? What a joke.

Anonymous said...

What church does mike brown go to. What part does he play there?...



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