Attorney Kerry Carpenter of Bismarck, ND; ethical gremlin

The state of Kansas presented Kerry J. Carpenter with a law license in 1981 after he graduated from the University of North Dakota Law School.

The Disciplinary Board found Kerry guilty of the following misconduct.

Kerry worked on legal and real estate matter with the Church of Christ, Scientist. In addition, he worked with oil and gas businessman Martin Thompson.

When Thompson was made aware of the death of the owner of a large amount of mineral rights in Mountrail County, he spent 300 hours researching the dead man’s potential heirs with the goal of either negotiating a finder’s fee or a lease to purchase the land.

Subsequently, Kerry discovered that the land in question had been bequeathed to the Christian Science Church headquartered in Boston. A day after the church turned down his initial efforts to secure a deal for the land, Thompson contacted Kerry. Thompson provided Kerry with detailed information about the deceased’s will, which included information that part of the mineral rights may have been lost due to a notice of lapse that was filed.

Shortly thereafter, Kerry contacted Thompson to tell him he couldn’t represent him in the land deal because of his past representation of the church. In a letter to Kerry, Thompson said he was unaware of the conflict of interest because he was under the impression that he and Kerry would be partners in the deal with the church as to the mineral rights.

Kerry then agreed to represent the church in filing documents in court to prevent the mineral rights from lapsing. As payment for his work, the church granted Kerry and his wife a 12 percent interest of the church’s mineral rights on the property in question.

In acting as aforementioned, Kerry violated his duty to Thompson by sharing said sensitive information with the church.

As a consequence of his misconduct, the apologists for Attorney Misfits sitting on the North Dakota Supreme Court punished Kerry by gifting him with a complimentary 90-day suspension of his law license.

As we speak (ca. January 2016), Kerry practices with the Carpenter Law Offices at 2039 North Kavaney Drive in Bismarck, North Dakota.