Beaufort lawyer tied to Alex Murdaugh suspended from practicing law in Georgia

A Beaufort attorney with ties to Alex Murdaugh has now been suspended from practicing law in two states.

The Supreme Court of Georgia issued an emergency suspension of Cory Fleming’s law license on Jan. 11, according to the order.

Fleming reported to Georgia’s state bar that he had been suspended in South Carolina three months prior, and the state bar requested the emergency suspension of his license, it said.

“The Court hereby accepts the voluntary petition and directs that Cory Howerton Fleming be suspended from the practice of law immediately and until further order of this Court,” the Jan. 11 order reads.

Thomas Pendarvis, an attorney from Pendarvis Law Offices, PC in Beaufort, is representing Fleming and declined to comment.

The S.C. Supreme Court issued an interim suspension of Fleming’s license on Oct. 8, 2021, after heirs of Alex Murdaugh’s former housekeeper alleged in a lawsuit that Fleming assisted Murdaugh in stealing millions.

The lawsuit brought by the sons of Gloria Satterfield, who served as the Murdaugh family housekeeper for over 20 years, accused Murdaugh of diverting $4.3 million in settlement funds meant for them.

Murdaugh suggested to the sons, after their mother died from a fall at the Murdaugh family home, that they hire Fleming to represent them and sue Murdaugh to obtain insurance funds, the lawsuit said. Fleming was a close friend of Murdaugh’s in college, unbeknownst to the sons.

After the settlement was approved, checks from the proceeds went through Fleming’s law firm to a sham bank account controlled by Murdaugh, according to the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.

Murdaugh was later indicted by the AG’s office and faces dozens of charges for alleged financial misconduct. Fleming has not been charged criminally. Both men are under investigation by the S.C. Supreme Court’s disciplinary arm, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which examines lawyer misconduct.

Fleming was admitted to the state bars of South Carolina and Georgia in late 1994 and early 1995, their websites show. With Savannah and the Georgia state line close to Beaufort County, it’s not uncommon for local lawyers to have licenses in both states.

‘Misled and deceived’?

Fleming placed the blame squarely on Murdaugh regarding the Satterfield case in a statement released the day before he was suspended.

“When it came time to disburse the settlement funds, Mr. Fleming trusted his close friend and colleague to deal with him truthfully and honorably, only to be misled and deceived in one of the worst possible ways for a lawyer: Alex Murdaugh lied to Mr. Fleming to steal client funds,” the statement said.

The Beaufort lawyer also reportedly settled with the Satterfield family for expenses and fees he collected as part of the original settlement.

Fleming, and his former firm Moss, Kuhn, and Fleming, have re-emerged in the news as Murdaugh faces further questions in the case of a quadriplegic man whose family is missing settlement money.

Hakeem Pinckney became quadriplegic as a result of a 2009 crash in which members of his family were also hurt. Murdaugh represented them.

Hundreds of thousands in settlement dollars meant for the PInckney family disappeared, attorney Justin Bamberg alleges.

Pinckney’s mother, Pamela Pinckney, was directed by Murdaugh to hire Fleming as the family’s lawyer, just like in the Satterfield Tcase, according to Bamberg.

A copy of a 2017 check obtained by The Island Packet shows $89,133.44 disbursed from Fleming’s law firm, Moss, Kuhn, and Fleming, made out to Murdaugh’s law firm — money that Pamela Pinckney never saw, Bamberg said.

The check, Bamberg said, ended up in a fraudulent Bank of America account that Murdaugh is alleged to have used to siphon money from dozens of clients.