Local lawyers legal woes linger | Free News

The legal troubles keep piling up for an embattled attorney in Jones County.

Brandon Brooks, 44, of Moselle spent a couple of days in the Jones County Adult Detention Center for contempt of court last week. He was charged with trespassing on his ex-wife’s property and failed to appear in Jones County Justice Court for a hearing scheduled on Feb. 16, according to court records.

Failing to appear or take care of business in court is something a dozen or so clients have accused Brooks of in formal complaints to the Mississippi Bar Association. There were 12 complaints filed against him for allegations ranging from not providing services that had been paid for to impersonating a former client with a fake Facebook account.

Some of the formal accusations against Brooks:

• Client Eva Sullivan claimed she paid $3,500 for his representation in a child-custody matter, but he failed to submit proper paperwork or to respond to her;

• Client Annie Moore claimed that she paid him $3,000 to represent her daughter in a child-custody hearing, but after Brooks became ill with COVID-19 and missed a hearing, authorities took custody of the child, and he refused to provide a refund;

• Client Ashley Odom claimed that she paid $3,000 plus a $200 filing fee to represent her in a divorce matter, but he failed failed to file the necessary paperwork, then lied about it;

• Client Robert Hawkins paid $1,250 for his representation in a divorce but failed to file necessary documents;

• Client Ashlee Smith alleges lack of communication and neglect, claiming that she hired him to handle a divorce and paid $850, but he didn’t provide documentation she requested and repaid only $478;

• Client Mitchell Magee claimed he paid $800 for work on a property settlement agreement in an uncontested divorce, but the work was not completed;

• Client Dawn Crabtree hired him to represent her in a divorce, but he failed to file documents on her behalf;

• Client Terry Lott hired him to handle a divorce, but he failed to file documents, claiming difficulties serving papers to Lott’s wife;

• Client Karen Green claimed she hired him to represent her in a grandparents’ visitation matter, and she appeared for hearings but he did not;

• Client Anthony Caronia alleged lack of communication and failure to comply with court orders in an estate matter and failure to answer his complaint;

• Adam Kilgore filed a complaint alleging that he posted a false negative review of Schmidt Law Firm under a fake account on the firm’s Facebook page and Google. Kilgore also filed a complaint on behalf of client Titania Page, who claimed that she hired Brooks to handle her divorce but missed a hearing and failed to give her a refund.

Brooks, who used to have a law office in Jones County and often handled cases in Jones County Chancery Court, had been practicing law out of a West Pine Street office in Hattiesburg. He moved his practice there after he was caught having an affair with his secretary, which led to his divorce on the grounds of adultery, according to chancery court records. 

Brooks was recently convicted in Lamar County Justice Court of impersonation and harassment after being accused of paying people to write false reviews of an opposing law firm. He was ordered to pay $3,500 in restitution to Chris Lott, whose name he used to create a fake Facebook account.

Brooks former legal assistant, Harley Dakota Norris, filed the affidavit against her boss admitting that he had paid others to write favorable reviews about his law firm. She alleged that he created “numerous” fake email accounts and Facebook pages for that purpose.

Brooks was booked into the Jones County jail just after 9 a.m. on Thursday and he was released just after 4 p.m. Friday after paying a $300 fine for trespassing. He has requested a hearing for the failure to appear in court charge.

A Facebook page named We The People Against Attorney Brandon Brooks has been set up by people who accused him of wrongdoing.

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