George IV

December 20, 2014

GEORGE ELLIS CORSON IV [#157305], 51, of Orange, was suspended from the practice of law for one year and ordered to take the MPRE and comply with rule 9.20 of the California Rules of Court. He was also placed on four years’ probation and faces a four-year suspension if he does not comply with the terms of his disciplinary probation. The order took effect Dec. 20, 2014. The State Bar Court found Corson culpable of two counts of misconduct involving moral turpitude or dishonesty in moving forward with litigation after a mediated settlement. In April 2012, a woman hired Corson to represent her after her former employer fired her following an injury at work. Corson filed a worker’s compensation claim, an application for the adjudication of that claim and a petition seeking increased worker’s compensation benefits. Prior to hiring Corson, the client filed disability discrimination claims on her own. Because Corson does not handle disability discrimination matters, he recommended another attorney, whom the client ultimately hired. In an attempt to settle both the workers’ compensation and the disability discrimination claims, a mediation was held. At the outset, all parties agreed the claims would be negotiated separately so there would be no dispute about how a global settlement would be split up. Corson’s fee was to be 15 percent of the workers’ compensation settlement money while the other attorney’s was to be 35 percent of the disability discrimination settlement. The workers compensation claims were settled quickly, and as a result Corson was supposed to receive $3,750 plus $787 in additional fees for attending the client’s deposition. The disability discrimination claims were eventually settled for $6,500 and the other attorney was to receive about $22,750. Shortly afterward, Corson told the other attorney he was upset he had been shut out of the settlement of the disability discrimination claims. When the other attorney offered him a $1,000 referral fee, Corson did not take it and left. In defiance of the terms of the mediated settlement he walked the approval of the workers’ compensation claims through the settlement process and continued to accuse the other attorney of cheating him out of the settlement money. In an attempt to hijack some of the fees for himself, he then threatened to walk the disability discrimination settlement through the approval process and obtain approval for 15-percent fee instead of a 35-percent fee for the other attorney. He ultimately told the other attorney he wanted at least $7,500 and reiterated his threat to get approval for a lower fee award. He made good on his threat the following Monday, removing the authorized settlement agreement and replacing it with fabricated settlement terms in which he requested $9,750 for himself. The agreement was approved, but the judge later rejected it after learning of Corson’s deception. Corson made another attempt to obtain additional attorney fees for himself by filing a petition claiming he was owed money. Though the payment was initially approved, the client’s former employer objected, and a judge issued a new order denying Corson’s petition for attorney fees. In mitigation, Corson had no prior record of discipline. He also received some mitigation for presenting evidence of his good character.