In June 2007, an Abingdon law firm hired a longtime legal secretary who had just pleaded guilty to embezzlement to be its bookkeeper.
Charles Jessee Sr., the firm’s founding partner and sole shareholder, hired Anna Howell to give her a “new start,” according to a Virginia State Bar report released Thursday. Jessee Sr. had recently transferred his shares and managerial responsibilities to his son, John Jessee Jr. The father told his son that Howell “would be an extremely loyal and devoted employee.”
But she wasn’t.
On Thursday, the Virginia State Bar reprimanded Jessee Jr. for neglecting to adequately supervise Howell and exercise his managerial duties as the firm’s sole shareholder.
Jessee Sr. transferred his ownership interest in the law firm to his son in March 2007. But Jessee Jr. did not realize that he simultaneously inherited managerial responsibility for “what always had been, and in his eyes, what still was, his father’s firm,” according to a State Bar disciplinary report.
Before becoming the firm’s sole shareholder, Jessee Jr. had not had any managerial authority in the firm, the State Bar report notes.
Howell, while employed by the firm, hijacked outstanding checks from a real estate escrow account by having the bank issue stop-payment orders and reissue the checks as money orders. Howell then used the money orders to pay her own debts, according to the State Bar and federal court documents.
Howell is serving a three-year federal sentence, and faces an additional 2½ years in state prison upon her release.
Jessee Jr. knew nothing of Howell’s criminal acts until he received a call from Bank of America in October 2008, State Bar documents show. Howell was fired that month.
“While we believe none of our clients were harmed, her actions were devious and concealed and no one in our firm knew what she had done,” Jessee Jr. wrote in an e-mailed statement to the Bristol Herald Courier. “When we discovered her theft, we took immediate and specific measures to assure that this would never happen again.”
In the State Bar proceedings, Jessee Jr. acknowledged that he should have monitored the real estate escrow account as part of his duties as the firm’s manager. He also admitted he “did not sufficiently supervise [Howell] in the performance of her bookkeeping responsibilities.”
The reason for these lapses, Jessee Jr. explained to the State Bar, was that “he did not yet view himself as the manager of the law firm and had not as of that time taken the steps to educate himself to such responsibilities.”
“I agreed to take responsibility for the fact that this employee and the account at issue were not sufficiently supervised,” Jessee Jr. wrote to the Herald Courier. “In this regard, I have set up new and specific procedures specially designed to prevent such dishonest employee actions. I am absolutely satisfied that such will not occur again.”
The disciplinary report makes it clear that Jessee Jr. “did not intentionally violate” any of the rules governing attorney conduct.
In meting out its sanction, the State Bar imposed certain terms on Jessee Jr. He must retain a certified public accountant to review his record-keeping and ensure that he is in compliance with the State Bar’s rules.
Jessee Jr. also agreed that a State Bar investigator would be allowed to inspect his records without prior notice to monitor his compliance. He pledged to continue his efforts to determine if any of his firm’s clients were adversely affected by Howell’s theft.
dgilbert@bristolnews.com |(276) 645-2558
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement