LEXINGTON, SC (WIS) -
The state judicial system has taken steps to help clients of the office run by Lexington attorney Richard Breibart.
Breibart's law practice has been shut down for about a week. Since then, a Supreme Court action removed him from having control of his office's accounts or client files.
About ten attorneys including Breibart----had been working for the firm.
Last Friday, shortly after the practice locked its doors, the high court issued an order placing Breibart on "interim suspension."
The exact reasons for that order remain confidential. But the Office of Disciplinary Counsel's Lee Coggiola says historically, most interim suspensions are the result of some form of lawyer misconduct.
"Generally speaking, the ones that are probably the most frequent is either a lawyer who has been convicted of a serious crime or conduct that is really considered a substantial threat to the clients, to the public and to the administration of justice," said Coggiola.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court appointed Columbia attorney Mark Barrow to serve as trustee in the case. Barrow told WIS News Ten by phone he's begun contacting Breibart's clients to advise them on their options.
Barrow says he has not spoken yet with Breibart. Breibart's friends say has been hospitalized after suffering a head injury.
