High-profile lawyer who acted as 'paymaster' for client gives up his law license
An Atlanta lawyer who has represented several high-profile clients has agreed to give up his law license in connection with his actions as “paymaster” for a client.
The lawyer, Tony Axam, has represented civil rights leader Julian Bond and former NFL linebacker Ray Lewis, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The Legal Profession Blog links to the Georgia Supreme Court decision (PDF) accepting Axam’s surrender of his law license for admitted trust account violations.
Axam agreed to act as a “paymaster” for a client in 2010 in a deal that paid him $5,000 for each transaction. In one transaction, Axam processed funds for an individual at the direction of his client, although Axam didn’t know the nature of the business dealings between the two and didn’t ask any questions about it, the opinion says. Axam admitted he didn’t read the terms of the trading platform that was associated with his paymaster duties.
Axam processed the disbursements for the individual through a law firm operating account, which also included his personal funds, rather than a trust account, according to the opinion. Axam did not document the payout until a grievance was filed, the opinion says.
