The SC Attorney Who Tried to Hire a Hit Man to Kill a Former Colleague, He's Disbarred

Back in 21009 I related the story of Irby Ezell Walker, Jr. who was caught trying to hire a hit man to kill a former colleague and office mate.  This is a link to Walker's firm website which is still up and running.  The Associated Press is reports that Walker confessed to the crime, and the Legal Profession blawg links to Walker's voluntary disbarment.  This is an excerpt from the local news report at WIS10 Columbia, SC:

A South Carolina attorney sentenced to three years in prison for trying to hire someone to kill another lawyer has been disbarred.  The state Supreme Court on Monday ordered that Irby Walker's law license be revoked.

Walker in August was sentenced after pleading guilty to solicitation to commit a felony.

Police said they recorded conversations Walker had with another person about how much Walker would be willing to pay to have Conway attorney Doug Thornton killed.

Authorities say Walker paid the prospective hit man with a post-dated check because he didn't have enough money in his account to cover the check's face value.
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The underlying story relates to a lot of bad blood between Walker and his intended victim(s).  There is also a connection to a small town mayor that Walker represented, a blown divorce representation, and bad real estate deals.

Now get this, under South Carolina rules, Walker can apply for reinstatement after he completes his criminal sentence.  Amazed?  I am.

By the way when I originally wrote about this case I linked to this article which spells out in some detail what was going on with Walker at the time he pulled these stunts.  It's worth reading for the Southern Gothic quality of the attempted murder.

Chesley Loses Class Action Client: Ohio, In Wake of KY Bar Decision to Disbar



Chesley in his office

One of the curious things about the Stanley Chesley case was that the State of Ohio employed Chesley to represent it in a Class Action case arising out of the Fannie Mae mortgage meltdown.  Stories quoted Chesley on the subject all while the fen-phen scandal clearly implicated him in the historic rip off the of fen-phen class and cover-up that resulted in the long imprisonment of his co-counsel and disbarment proceeding against him and others.  In other words, Chesley continued to represent one of the largest states in the union in a major piece of litigation under both democratic and republican Ohio governments.  Chesley received the work under former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray, a democrat, but he kept the work when former US Senator and Lt. Governor, Mike DeWine, a republican, took over the Attorney General's office during the last general election.  Perhaps the status quo remained under the republicans because Chesley et al. hired former republican operative, and treasurer Joe Deters?

This all changed, yesterday, when Mike DeWine finally brought the axe down on Chesley as it related to official Ohio representation.  Chesley who is facing permament loss of licensure is no longer representing the State of Ohio.  Here's a link to the Cincinnati Enquirer story.

Kentucky Bar Association Votes Disbarment for Stanley Chesley

The Kentucky Bar Association has voted to permanently disbar legendary Class Action and Mass Torts lawyer Stanley Chesley. 

At the link, the Cincinnati Enquirer article on the KY Bar Association Board of Governors vote following the daylrong hearing.

At this link you can read Chesley's firm bio.