Attorney Trent Coggins of Valdosta, GA; ethical troll

The State of Georgia presented Trent Lee Coggins with a law license in 2001 after he graduated from Mercer University School of Law.

The Georgia State Bar found Trent guilty of engaging in the following misconduct.

• Had a dishonest and selfish motive in using client funds to pay for his business interests
• Third party was exposed to potential exposed to potential financial harm by virtue of Trent not maintaining sufficient funds to cover Check No. 5016 at all relevant times
• Trent exposed the owners of four lots were also exposed to injury when the third-party’s counsel initiated non-judicial foreclosure against those properties
• Deficit in Trent’s trust account had the potential to undermine the integrity of the significant funds Trent held on deposit for numerous clients and third persons over the course of four years
• Dispersed funds held for a particular third part to someone other than said party without authorization to so act
• Commingled client funds with personal funds
• Failed to keep and preserve complete records of client funds held in his IOLTA account
• Violated Rules of Conduct when he disregarded the third party’s interest in the $33,096.94 by not
• maintaining it at all times in the IOLTA account and by not keeping it separate from his personal funds
• Improperly transferred unearned client funds from the IOLTA account into his business operating account
• Used client funds in support of his other business interests that were at risk of financial collapse
• Failed to maintain a ledger for his IOLTA account showing the balances held for each client or third person
• Withdrew funds from his IOLTA account for personal use that were not earned fees

As a direct consequence of his misconduct, the apologists for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Georgia Supreme Court punished Trent by gifting him with a complimentary 6-month suspension of his law license.

As we speak (ca. November 2022), Trent practices his so-called brand of law with Trent L. Coggins LLC at 108 East College Street in Valdosta, Georgia.