Saugus lawyer-philanthropist disbarred for misconduct

SAUGUS – Once known for his generous giving, Attorney James Gregson has been disbarred for his egregious taking.Gregson, the adopted son of long-time local attorney George Gregson, actually submitted an affidavit of resignation March 18 and the Board of Overseers handed down its official disbarment ruling April 17. According to the board’s findings, when Gregson handed in his resignation he was awaiting a hearing on a nine-count petition.The petition charged him with stealing $240,000 in funds entrusted to him by clients. He was also charged with directing employees over a 10-month period to meet payroll and other expenses by withdrawing funds from his Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) without attributing the withdrawals to any client of client matter. Those withdrawals added up to more than $560,000 from client IOLTA accounts.He was also charged with several other unspecified actions to conceal his misconduct.Ironically, Gregson was recognized in October of 2004 as a high-profile donor to various organizations with both his time and money. Involved with the Chamber of Commerce, the Lions Club and the Masons, Gregson was lauded by then-Chamber Director Desiree McKelvey for his generosity.”The funny thing is it’s all coming out of my pocket,” he said at the time.According to the overseers’ ruling, Gregson acknowledged the charges against him in his resignation and that he essentially had no case.He “acknowledged that a material portion of the charges, consisting of two of the counts charged in the petition, could be proven by a preponderance of the evidence,” reads the statement. “He agreed not to contest the allegations of those two counts in any bar discipline or reinstating proceeding.”The two counts he admitted to included misappropriating of more than $10,000 and directing the withdrawal of more than $560,000 from his IOLTA account without attribution.The misuse of funds constitutes fraud, dishonesty, deceit and misrepresentation and failure to safeguard trust funds, which are all in violation of state law. The second count of the withdrawals constituted failure to maintain complete records of the receipt, maintenance and disposition of his trust account funds, also in violation of state law.The commission ordered the disbarment as soon as it accepted Gregson’s letter of resignation.