Evansville attorney with local ties suspended by Indiana Supreme Court

Monday, July 14, 2008

EVANSVILLE -- An Evansville attorney with Greene County roots has been suspended from practicing law for at least three years -- stemming from an incident that happened in the year 2000 -- when he was accused of writing himself checks from a client's trust account.

That order came down from the Indiana Supreme Court on Friday as a result of an earlier decision by the court's Disciplinary Commission.

Attorney Douglas W. Patterson, formerly of Lyons, was found to have engaged in misconduct by his conversion of client funds, deceit in concealing his misconduct, and dishonesty with the Disciplinary Commission," Indiana State Supreme Court justices wrote.

Patterson, an L & M graduate, was admitted to the Indiana State Bar in 1989, and is known for his work on bankruptcy cases.

The suspension stems from accusations that surfaced in August 2000, when officials at a law firm Patterson had previously worked for accused him of writing five checks to himself in July 2000 from a client trust account, according to a published report in the Evansville Courier & Press.

When Patterson left the firm, he reportedly was told to stop making deposits into the trust account, and to destroy the old checks or turn them over to the firm's bookkeeper. The bookkeeper and another attorney who'd worked at the firm with Patterson did not know that Patterson continued to use the account.

On Aug. 17, 2000, the bookkeeper reportedly discovered that Patterson had written five checks to himself in July 2000, the Courier & Press reported.

When law firm officials confronted him, Patterson initially denied knowledge of the checks, then later admitted he'd written the checks and "spontaneously" added that he "did not have a gambling problem," the Courier & Press story stated.

A later audit revealed that Patterson had written other checks to himself in May 2000, and an additional suspicious transaction was noted from January 2000.

The checks totaled $10,500.

It was eventually determined that nearly all of the converted funds belonged to a single client, and Patterson reportedly repaid the money, according to the Courier.

Indianapolis-based attorney Kevin P. McGoff represented Patterson. He said despite the nature of the allegations, no criminal charges were ever filed.

The Indiana Supreme Court noted that after the three-year suspension -- which begins July 31 -- Patterson can be reinstated only if he complies with requirements set forth by the Disciplinary Commission.

"This includes demonstrating that his attitude toward his misconduct is one of genuine remorse and that he can safely be recommended to the legal profession, the courts and the public as a person fit to act in matters of trust and confidence," the judges wrote.

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I agree. I've known this man for a long time too, and I'm sure he's very sorry for his mistake. We all make mistakes, and we must move on with our lives. It would be easy to pile on, but let him get on with his life and hopefully in three years he will be back practicing law.

Good luck Doug.

-- Posted by GlorifyGod on Mon, Jul 14, 2008, at 8:34 PM

It's just like stealing, but hey he's a lawyer so you think it makes it ok. If that were just a citizen of the community they would get the book threw at them.

-- Posted by linton mom on Mon, Jul 14, 2008, at 10:11 PM

I don't know this man. But to say whoever is free of sin cast the first stone. Free of sin is one thing ( which no man is), but free of the law is another. This man broke the law and just taking his license away for three years or ten years is a slap on the wrist. I believe he should have at least got something out of it even if he didn't even have to spend one night in jail.

-- Posted by Bigballer on Tue, Jul 15, 2008, at 5:16 AM

From what I read, this was an incident from eight years ago and outside of the county. Why even report on this? Does this mean if someone makes a mistake years ago, somewhere else that there will be a write up in the paper...?

-- Posted by charles on Tue, Jul 15, 2008, at 7:46 AM

As for those who say this was a good person making a bad decision/mistake- this was not a one time act- He was told to stop and he didn't. He should be thankful that he is not heading off the prison like you or I would be had we done the same thing- theft is theft.

-- Posted by LINTON67 on Tue, Jul 15, 2008, at 2:52 PM

The checks totaled $10,500.

So for the people who think he did nothing wrong,do you trust him around your money?Would you let him keep your check book?He might be a good person to you but he still broke the law and got nothing for it.

-- Posted by am1982 on Tue, Jul 15, 2008, at 8:25 PM

billhess he can still get a job of some kind it might not be the one he went to school for but who is to blame for that? Him.No one made him steal that money,he done it all on his own.He might regret getting busted and now he can't be a lawyer for the next 3 years but it doesn't change the fact that people trusted him and used that trust to steal from them.

-- Posted by am1982 on Thu, Jul 17, 2008, at 6:33 AM