To date, The Wedgefield Examiner has been unable to locate the accusations brought against our current Attorney of Record - Moody, that caused the Supreme Court of South Carolina to place him on temporary suspension and appoint a Special Receiver. While these recent actions may have put our association in a bad place, we were there already.
During the January WPA board meeting, when it was announced that Moody had split from the law firm of Maring and Moody, Garrison said he didn't know where Moody was, and when asked the reason for the split, said he didn't care. Yet, someone at the board table stated that they had talked to him, and he would cover upcoming court dates. Did your board care so little that while one of them had him on the phone that they didn't question why the split, or even ask where his new office was? That's pretty elementary. No one on that board, except for McBride, asked any pertinent questions in behalf of the association. They just sat there, including our president. According to the Supreme Court Order, Moody won't be representing us any where soon.
As Special Receiver , Maring sent a letter to Moody's clients, advising them to pick up their files. Any files left in his possession at the termination of his appointment will be turned over to the Commission on Lawyer Conduct in Columbia. Call it my suspicious mind, but I forecast that this board will turn our records over to Maring and ask him to pick up our case load. That would be the easy way out and may not be in our best interests. Why?
Up until recently these two attorneys were a membership of two, in the firm. The firm has accepted payment for services that our now Legal Chair, said as a board member, we wouldn't pay because two other board members had sought the firm's services, without board approval. The firm met with a Concerned Citizen private resident, charged, and were paid. There were other questionable charges that were paid. VERY few legal opinions have been put in writing so that each board member may read and weigh the matter discussed, before a vote. It could be called an unhealthy relationship. Now, there isn't a paper trail where board members, or residents, can go back and review opinions, now that the association is placed in this situation. Legal Chair, Garrison has stated at times that he "wasn't inclined to pay for written opinions" (go back to tapes of the meetings). Moody's apparent acceptance of this could be indication of the then firm's failure to recognize the needs of the entire board.
Our own Wedgefield situation regarding legal is questionable. A few years back, Jacky Walton was removed as president by the board because he wouldn't fire his appointed legal chair( A very responsible legal chair.). At that time, then board member, Huggins, said, "it was all about legal." Walton has been elected by this board twice, as president. Each time, he has named Garrison as legal chair. During each of these appointments, Garrison has been working with the attorney of record to collect on assessments, he previously put in writing, to put in escrow and not pay. Is Walton retaining his presidency because once again, it is all about legal? In the mean time, most of these board members take the easy way out to retain their own dukedom, and fail to serve in our best interests. I'm not a betting person, if I was I'd wager that on Thursday morning, Maring will be our attorney of record.
Will you attend the meeting?
