In re William Tracy Carris, Esq. (Office of Disciplinary Counsel)
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ENTRY ORDER 2021 VT 55 SUPREME COURT DOCKET NO. 2021-080 JULY TERM, 2021 In re William Tracy Carris, Esq. (Office of Disciplinary Counsel) } } } } } Original Jurisdiction Professional Responsibility Board PRB DOCKET NO. 2021-098, 116 In the above-entitled cause, the Clerk will enter: ¶ 1. Respondent, William Tracy Carris, is a lawyer licensed to practice law in the State of Vermont; his license was suspended by order of this Court, dated May 3, 2021. On that same date, pursuant to Administrative Order 9, Rules 22.B and 28, the Court appointed Attorney F. Rendol Barlow as the trustee over Respondent’s law practice. Pursuant to the Court’s direction, the trustee and Respondent, through counsel, negotiated and submitted for the Court’s review a stipulated order describing the authority of the trustee and the specific expectations and responsibilities of Respondent, including timelines. Disciplinary Counsel does not object to the proposed order. The Court accepts the parties’ proposal and orders the following: LAW ENFORCEMENT AND BANK PERSONNEL TAKE NOTE: ¶ 2. By further order of the Court, F. Rendol Barlow, Trustee, is granted express authority to: (A) Enter the physical premises of the law office of William Tracy Carris/Debonis, Wright and Carris, located at 177 Main St., Poultney, VT, for the purposes of accessing client property, files, and other related documents, whether stored electronically or in paper or other form, and return this property, files or related documents to Respondent’s clients or their designees or file with courts as appropriate; (B) Take immediate, exclusive control over all client trust accounts (IOLTA accounts) and title insurance accounts, to include issuing payment from these accounts; (C) Resolve open matters with title insurance carriers for which Respondent was an agent; and (D) Access and review any transaction history for all operating accounts titled to Respondent’s law firm and to Arbor Title and, if deemed necessary by the Trustee, request that the banks freeze those accounts. ¶ 3. Respondent William Tracy Carris is further ordered to: (A) Grant the Trustee access to Respondent’s office to include, without limitation, any necessary keys, codes and passwords, no later than three business days from the date of this order; (B) In particular, and without limitation, either personally or through counsel, to appear in person at this location on Wednesday July 21, 2021, at 1:00 PM through 5:00 PM and Friday, July 23, 2021, at 9:30 AM though 5:00 PM. In addition to these two dates and times, Trustee shall have access to this office during normal business hours provided he gives Respondent or his counsel 48 hours notice of when Trustee will be accessing the office. No consent or agreement of Respondent to this access shall be required. (C) Identify in writing to the Trustee all IOLTA, operating and other bank accounts, including operating accounts associated with Respondent’s law practice, including Debonis, Wright and Carris, within three business days from the date of this Order. (D) Provide a detailed accounting to Trustee of any and all withdrawals from any of the accounts identified in the preceding paragraph, to include: date, check number, amount, payee, and purpose of check, within five business days of the date of this Order. (E) Identify any files, property, documents, records and other materials, hard copy or electronic, that he has removed from the 177 East Main Street, Poultney, VT office since this Court’s May 3, 2021 Order or that are located at locations other than at this address, and return any such items to the Trustee’s control within three business days of the date of this Order. (F) From the date of this Order, substantively, completely, and truthfully respond to the Trustee’s phone calls and emails within one business day of their being sent. From the date of this Order, upon two business days’ notice, appear and remain at the 177 East Main Street, Poultney, VT office, in order to materially assist the Trustee with locating files, property, documents, records, and other requested materials, to assist in accessing firm operational systems, and to generally assist the Trustee in carrying out his duties. (G) To otherwise materially assist and cooperate with the Trustee in carrying out his duties under this and other Orders of this Court, fully and cooperatively. 2 (H) Abide by his obligations under Administrative Order 9, Rule 27, to wit, giving notice of his suspended status to courts, clients, opposing counsel, and the public, within seven business days of the date of this Order. BY THE COURT: Paul L. Reiber, Chief Justice Beth Robinson, Associate Justice Harold E. Eaton, Jr., Associate Justice Karen R. Carroll, Associate Justice William D. Cohen, Associate Justice 3
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