| ► Attorney Timothy D. Smith of Lexington, NC; lying thief |
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Attorney Timothy D. Smith of Lexington, NC; lying thief  The state of North Carolina presented Timothy D. Smith with a law license in 1989.
The Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar charged William with the following misconduct.
In one matter, Timothy was hired by Rose Goode to represent her regarding her Supplemental Social Security (SS) claim on a contingency fee basis.
Ms. Good agreed to pay Timothy 25% of any back benefits she was awarded. After a hearing was held, Rose received a notice that her claim had been denied. Subsequently, Timothy appealed the denial to the Appeals Council, which remanded the case to Administrative Law Judge Clayton Adams for further proceedings.
Shortly thereafter, Timothy became intimately involved with Terry Dammann, a registered nurse. Several weeks later, Timothy hired Ms. Dammann without her knowledge or consent to review Rose’s file and research medical evidence supporting her SSI claim. Ms. Dammann subsequently reported her findings to Timothy and then sent Rose a bill for services and expenses in the amount of $2,000.
Rose then paid Timothy the $2,000 he billed her. Ms. Dammann’s hourly rate for her services was $100. The Stat Bar concluded that this was an excessive charge for consulting work because as a registered nurse, Ms. Dammann could not lawfully render a medical opinion concerning Rose’s claim. Moreover, Ms. Dammann never physically examined Rose and did not testify at the hearing.
Within a month, a second hearing was held on Rose’s claim. Three days after the hearing, Timothy married Ms. Dammann. The second hearing resulted in Rose’s claim for SSI benefits being approved. Timothy then filed a Petition with the Social Security Administration for approval to charge Rose $6,000 in attorney fees. In his petition, Timothy stated that he didn’t expect to receive reimbursement from Rose for expenses he had previously incurred. Timothy absolutely knew this statement was false because he fully expected Rose to reimburse him for the $2,000 he paid to Ms. Dammann.
Social Security Rules did not allow for Timothy to charge or receive a fee from Rose without prior approval from the Administrative Law Judge. Despite this requirement and his false certification, Timothy collected two checks from Rose totaling $5,331 as payment for representing her SSI claim. Timothy collected the $5,331 without ever obtaining approval from the Administrative Judge. Subsequently, the Administrative Judge approved fees of $3,000 to Timothy.
After she discovered that Timothy was only entitled to $3,000, Rose wrote to him and demanded a refund of $2,331. Timothy replied by stating that he included in his fee were expenses he paid to Ms. Dammann. After an investigation by the Social Security Administration, Timothy was forced to refund the $2,331 to Rose.
In another matter involving T. David Boone, Jr., Timothy did the exact same thing to him in regards to his girlfriend Dammann as he did to Rose when he attempted to bill Boone $1,300 for his girlfriend’s so-called services. Timothy also collected a fee of $2,600 from Boone prior to the Administrative Judge’s approval of a fee in the amount of $1,500. As with Rose, Boone demanded that Timothy refund the $1,100 he was not lawfully entitled too.
As a consequence of his misconduct the enablers for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Grievance Committee of the North Carolina State Bar punished William by gifting him with a complimentary reprimand.
As we speak (ca. December 2012) William continues to practice in the Lexington, North Carolina area.
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