Legal Ethics

News Flash: Stealing Your Jailed Client's Money Isn't The Best Idea

Goes to show the MPRE is a better test of memory than ethics.

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sad lawyer at desk

You did what?

There are stories that get written about the lawyers who answer our profession’s highest calls. This is not one of them. This story is about a former attorney from Columbus, Georgia. No, Keith Chance Hardy didn’t give up the profession after hitting it big on lotto number guesses. It got taken from him after he stole from not one, but three clients — one being behind bars at the time. From WRBL:

“On or about September 5, 2019, Hardy had his first meeting with the client and told her that he believed he could get a bond on her charges, but that she would need money to pay the bondsman. When the client advised that she had some money but did not know how to access it from jail, Hardy offered to access the client’s bank account for her. The client provided Hardy with the information necessary to access her bank account after Hardy allowed her to use his computer to digitally transfer $21,600 from her savings account to her checking account.

“The court did not immediately grant bond, but Hardy began taking money out of the client’s account and, by December 10, 2019, Hardy had initiated six withdrawals or transfers from his client’s account, taking a total of $20,000 and incurring $120 in wire transfer fees. In addition, the client had specifically authorized Hardy to receive the property she had in her possession when she was arrested, which included approximately $3,500 worth of jewelry. Although the client directed Hardy to turn the jewelry and other items over to her family, he instead kept the jewelry and other items.”

For the longest time, my argument against ending cash bail was that it is disproportionally used to keep Black mothers and poor people in jail without proving they’ve committed crimes first — I’m generally against state-blessed ransom. I didn’t think we’d need to add “prevent lawyers of questionable moral character from having an excuse to steal from their clients” to the list of reasons to get rid of it, but we might as well throw it on now that we’re here.

It also needs to be said that committing wire fraud by robbing one of your clients is very dumb. Even if you look past the clear ethical violations of doing so, it is easily traceable back to you. The smart scammers know that there are better targets out there. Like banks:

This is, of course, not an endorsement or legal advice.

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Columbus Attorney Disbarred After Draining Client’s Bank Account While The Client Was In Jail [WRBL]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.

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