Suzanne Foley

December 25, 2014

SUZANNE FOLEY SPRAGUE [#213078], 51, of Benicia, was suspended from the practice of law for one year and ordered to take the MPRE and comply with rule 9.20. She was also placed on two years’ probation and faces a two-year suspension if she does not comply with the terms of her disciplinary probation. The order took effect Dec, 25, 2014. Sprague stipulated that she breached her fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries of a trust and committed acts involving moral turpitude. In 2008, Sprague’s father died, and she was named trustee of his trust. A few months later, she opened checking and savings accounts in the name of the trust but did not regularly reconcile the accounts. As a result, Sprague did not notice that the bank mistakenly linked the trust’s savings account with her personal checking account, and misdirected $17,375.52 from the trust to her personal account. In addition, Sprague did not timely close the administration of the trust and failed to provide accountings to the beneficiaries. In mitigation, Sprague entered into a pretrial stipulation and had no prior record of discipline. She also replaced the misappropriated money on her own and was suffering from extreme emotional difficulties at the time of her misconduct.