BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY (2005)
Archived Content: This document is formally archived for historical reference. The original PDF remains the official record for legal purposes.
Need help? Please use the Assistance Request Form below.
Original PDF Document
Download Official Record (helm-27906-27924-9-rel632605855802596282.pdf)
Alternative Accessible HTML
Accessible Alternative: This HTML version is an automatically processed accessible alternative. While it provides a searchable format, the text extraction may contain formatting or character errors. The original PDF remains the authoritative official record.
Need a different format? Use the Request Assistance Form.
BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
of the
SUPREME COURT OF TENNESSEE
1101 KERMIT DRIVE, SUITE 730
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37217
TELEPHONE: (615) 361-7500
(800) 486-5714
FAX: (615) 367-2480
E-MAIL: ethics@tbpr.org
Website: www.tbpr.org
RELEASE OF INFORMATION
RE: WILLIAM ANTHONY HELM, BPR #007588
CONTACT: JESSE D. JOSEPH
BOARD OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
615-361-7500
August 25, 2005
MEMPHIS LAWYER PUBLICLY CENSURED
William Anthony Helm, of Memphis, was publicly censured by the Board of
Professional Responsibility on August 24, 2005. The censure was issued by the Board
pursuant to Rule 9, Section 8 of the Rules of the Tennessee Supreme Court. Helm did
not request a hearing on the matter.
In two complaints filed against Helm, the Board found that he seriously neglected
two clientsâ legal matters, that he had been persistently dilatory in meeting his
commitments to clients and to the Board, and that he failed to promptly refund a fee to
one client which he acknowledged was unearned.
The Board also found that Helm had represented two clients with conflicting
interests in an irreconcilable differences divorce action for several months where he
knew, or should have known that disagreements had arisen between these clients over
the provisions of the marital dissolution agreement, and that he negligently allowed his
former secretary to alter the content of pleadings filed with the Circuit Court bearing his
signature.
In deciding to sanction Helm by public censure, the Board found somewhat
mitigating his discharge of the secretary, the partiesâ entry into an amended marital
dissolution agreement in the divorce matter resolving the conflict and the Circuit Courtâs
grant of permission for him to file an amended divorce complaint to eliminate the effect
of the prior alternation of documents.
Helm 27906-27924-9 rel.doc
PLEASE NOTE
YOU MAY SUBSCRIBE TO RECEIVE INFORMATIONAL RELEASES, FORMAL
ETHICS OPINIONS, NEWSLETTERS AND ANNUAL REPORTS ELECTRONICALLY
BY SIGNING IN AT THE BOARDâS WEBSITE
www. tbpr.org/Subscriptions