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A Charleston, South Carolina-based law firm has been accused of legal malpractice after allegedly concealing knowledge of an improper sexual affair involving a “rival” counselor and her client.
The case stems from the 2020 divorce of Erica P. Woodward of Berkeley County from her former husband, Lowcountry banker Dixon Woodward. In filing for divorce, Erica Woodward retained attorney Shannon Jones, while Dixon Woodward retained attorney Julianne Stokes.
According to a seismic filing (.pdf) submitted by Erica Woodward earlier this year in the S.C. ninth circuit, Jones failed to adequately represent her interests after her husband and Stokes “publicly engaged in an affair, despite prohibitions on lawyers having sex with their clients during the (period of) representation.”
Dixon Woodward and Stokes “began a romantic relationship which… included a sexual relationship” during the period the lawsuit was pending, the complaint alleged.
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“Jones has a personal friendship with Stokes and knew of the affair the whole time she represented (Erica) Woodward,” the complaint alleged.
In fact, she told her client that Stokes and her estranged husband were “in love” and that he “treated her like a queen.”
Despite this knowledge, Jones “took no action” on Erica Woodward’s behalf regarding the affair, did not amend the pleadings in the case to include adultery as grounds for divorce and “did not use the adultery or existence of a fault-based grounds for divorce” to benefit her client, per the complaint.
Why not? Because according to Erica Woodward, Jones and Stokes “had a close personal relationship and professional relationship… including traveling to Las Vegas (together) on a personal matter unrelated to the practice of law.”
The complaint further accused Jones of entering into an “agreement or understanding with Stokes not to report the romantic relationship to any authorities governing lawyers in South Carolina.”
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This alleged agreement was intended to “protect Stokes from public exposure of the sexual relationship and potential professional consequences due to the unlawful nature of (her) relationship with Dixon.”
Rule 1.8 of South Carolina’s code of lawyer conduct states that “a sexual relationship between lawyer and client presents a significant danger of harm to client interests and should be avoided.”
“Sexual relationships between a lawyer and a client pose three types of potential problems,” the rule continues. “First, a question may arise as to the voluntariness of a client’s consent to a sexual relationship. Lawyers are in a position of extraordinary trust and may not use that power and influence to entice a vulnerable client into an otherwise undesired sexual relationship. Second, sexual relationships are inappropriate when the existence of the relationship could prejudice a client’s legal interests, especially when the client is involved in a domestic relations case. Third, a lawyer engaged in an intimate sexual relationship with a client may not be able to exercise the proper degree of professional judgment and independence required to fully represent the client.”
“In any of these circumstances, a sexual relationship between lawyer and client is not appropriate, and the client’s own emotional involvement renders it unlikely that a client can give adequate informed consent to the relationship,” the rule concluded.
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The filing by Erica Woodward claimed that Jones’ failure to report Stokes’ alleged affair with her husband contributed to a “grossly deficient divorce settlement” and “substantial financial damage” to the plaintiff, who also accused Jones of billing her for “activities she did not actually undertake” and double-billing her in other instances.
In a response to the filing, Jones insisted Erica Woodward “made the knowing and informed decision to not seek an amendment of the pleadings to assert fault-based grounds of adultery for the divorce.”
Jones’ response (.pdf) went on to say that her firm “exercised the necessary degree of care and skill maintained by other attorneys under similar conditions and in like circumstances,” and that “no act or omission… proximately caused any injuries” to Erica Woodward.
According to our sources, Jones’ defense could potentially be aided by “issues” with one of the affidavits submitted alongside the original complaint against her and her law firm – or rather issues with the attorney who submitted the affidavit.
“They’re gonna need a new expert,” a source tracking the case told FITSNews.
Charleston’s bar has been closely following the various components of this saga for several months – with many privately rooting for the case to make it to trial. Count on our media outlet to provide any relevant updates as soon as they become available.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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