UNCLE HAROLD’S ESTATE

Attorney Wallace froze, his face draining of color, his knuckles going white around the pen in his hand.

“We’ll… we’ll need time to review these documents—” he stammered, his voice cracking, nothing left of the condescending confidence from moments earlier.

“You won’t need time, Mr. Wallace,” Chen said, pulling out another sheet of paper.

“Because I’ve also just received word from the Washington State Bar Association that you’re currently under investigation for deliberately concealing legal documents unfavorable to another client in a similar inheritance dispute last year — a matter that’s now generated an ethics complaint.

I have to wonder whether you already knew about this termination of parental rights and this adoption order before you agreed to represent the Carters.”

Wallace’s face went ashen.

He mumbled a few apologies, gathered his files, and asked to leave the room immediately, citing a need to “consult with his clients.”

Three days later, I received formal notice that he’d withdrawn from the case entirely, and not long after, an article in the Seattle Legal Tribune reported that he’d been suspended from practicing law while the State Bar investigated a string of other ethics violations.