Cory Fleming, attorney associated with Murdaugh family, has law license suspended

On Friday, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued an order temporarily suspending the law license of Cory Fleming. 

The order says Fleming is facing an interim suspension for "other misconduct." The definition of other misconduct says that with "sufficient evidence demonstrating that a lawyer poses a substantial threat of serious harm to the public or to the administration of justice, the Supreme Court may place the lawyer on interim suspension pending a final determination in any proceeding under these rules."

A spokesperson for the South Carolina Supreme Court said they could not confirm further details of the suspension or discuss what future actions the court might take on such a final determination.

A message left with Fleming was not immediately returned.

Cory Fleming, an attorney with Moss, Kuhn & Fleming in Beaufort, SC, was named as a defendant in one civil suit related to the Murdaugh family. The suit, which Fleming settled last Friday, was brought by the sons of a former housekeeper for the Murdaugh family who died at their residence in 2018.

More:Attorneys reach settlement for former Murdaugh family housekeeper's sons in civil case

Satterfield, 57, died Feb. 26, 2018 from injuries she suffered from what has been described as a "trip and fall" incident at the Murdaugh home. She had been the family's housekeeper in Hampton County for more than two decades.

The suit brought by Tony Satterfield and Brian Harriott, represented by attorney Eric Bland, alleged that Richard Alexander "Alex" Murdaugh introduced Fleming to the sons to bring a wrongful death suit against Murdaugh. They allege that the money, paid out by an insurance company, was directed to a fraudulent account and that the sons never received any money. Fleming settled by paying back the fees he received as part of the wrongful death settlement.

More:Alex Murdaugh directed more than $3.5M away from housekeeper's sons, documents show

Fleming was also mentioned, although not named as a defendant, in a recent suit brought by Conner Cook, who was injured in a boat accident in 2019. The boat was being driven by Paul Murdaugh, Alex's son. Paul was allegedly intoxicated at the time and the crash resulted in the death of Mallory Beach.

The suit claims that Alex Murdaugh told Cook and his family to retain attorney Cory Fleming to defend him in the then-ongoing criminal investigation into who was driving the boat, without telling Cook that Fleming was a close friend of Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh's godfather. The suit further alleges that Alex Murdaugh was also trying to have Cook held responsible for driving the boat.

More:Connor Cook files suit against Murdaugh family members, store clerk, for 2019 boat crash

On the night of June 7, 2021, Alex Murdaugh discovered his wife, Margaret  Murdaugh and Paul shot dead at their Colleton County hunting estate at 4147 Moselle Road, near Islandton. The charges against Paul were dismissed after his death.

Murdaugh is already facing charges in an alleged fraud scheme involving a botched suicide-for-hire plot. He's facing several other civil lawsuits.  Gloria Satterfield's death, in light of the other investigations, is now being investigated by the State Law Enforcement Division after her cause of death was initially ruled as "natural."