A Beaufort lawyer is accused of helping Murdaugh’s alleged schemes. Who is Cory Fleming?
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Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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Beaufort defense attorney Cory Fleming appears to be tangled in the increasingly complicated Murdaugh family saga.
Fleming, a partner at the Beaufort-based Moss, Kuhn & Fleming law firm, is accused of working with Hampton lawyer Alex Murdaugh to divert millions of dollars from a wrongful death settlement to Murdaugh.
A lawsuit filed this week also accuses Murdaugh of failing to disclose his personal and professional ties to Fleming after Murdaugh allegedly recommended the attorney to one of the survivors of the 2019 boat crash that killed Mallory Beach. The lawsuit alleges that Fleming’s services were used to prevent Murdaugh’s son, Paul, from being implicated in the crash.
The allegations against Fleming are just the latest developments in a murder mystery that has drawn international interest. Almost four months ago, Murdaugh called 911 to report that his wife, Maggie, and son were found shot to death. Since the murders of Paul and Maggie, a string of mysterious deaths allegedly connected to the prominent Murdaugh family have renewed scrutiny.
Although Murdaugh is facing the brunt of accusations — largely due to his alleged botched murder-for-hire scheme earlier this month — Fleming’s alleged involvement with and connections to the Murdaugh family raise serious questions.
In court filings, Fleming is described as Murdaugh’s former college roommate, one of his best friends and the godfather of Paul.
Fleming has not returned multiple calls for comment from The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Called Thursday, Jim Moss, a partner at Moss, Kuhn & Fleming, said the accusations against Fleming are false. He said the law firm hired attorneys and plans to file a counter suit. He refused to specify when asked who the firm plans to sue.
“If you want to know where the money is, check Hampton,” Moss said, referring to Murdaugh’s alleged scheme to take money from his housekeeper’s estate.
Moss refused to answer any other questions and hung up the phone.
Here’s what we know about Beaufort lawyer Cory Fleming:
Who is Cory Fleming?
Fleming works as an attorney for the Beaufort-based law firm Moss, Kuhn & Fleming. The law firm, with its main office on North Street in Beaufort, appears to have registered with the S.C. Secretary of State’s in 1990. The firm’s website says it has “provided civil and criminal legal representation for over 50 years.”
Fleming, according to his Linkedin and attorney profiles, joined the firm in 1996 after working two years as an assistant solicitor for the 14th Judicial Circuit Solicitor’s Office under former Solicitor Randolph Murdaugh III — Murdaugh’s father.
Called Thursday, Jeff Kidd, spokesperson for the Solicitor’s Office, said he believed Fleming worked there but the office did not have any records of his employment. A call to the Hampton County Human Resources department was not returned Thursday.
Fleming graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1990, with abachelor’s degree in finance, according to his profiles. Fleming received a law degree from the USC Law School in 1994, his profile said.
The Beaufort attorney has other ties to the Murdaugh family.
Fleming spoke at Randolph’s Order of the Palmetto ceremony in 2018 and he represented Paul when he was charged with possession of alcohol in 2017, according to previous reporting.
What he’s accused of
Fleming’s name appears to be connected to two incidents involving the Murdaugh family.
Last month, the S.C. Department of Natural Resources filed in court more than 100 pages of sworn testimony from Connor Cook — one of six people on board the boat that crashed and killed Beach in 2019.
In his testimony, Cook told attorneys that he was scared to tell police Paul was driving the boat because of the Murdaugh family’s influence.
He said he told investigators he didn’t remember who was driving because Murdaugh, who is Paul’s father and an attorney and volunteer prosecutor, told him to, “Keep my mouth shut and tell them I didn’t know who was driving and that he’s got me.”
Cook, in his testimony, said Murdaugh recommended that he hire Fleming as his attorney while at the hospital.
In a lawsuit filed this week, Cook’s attorneys alleges that when Murdaugh did this, he never disclosed to Cook his personal relationships with Fleming. After hiring Fleming, the lawsuit says, Cook was instructed not to speak with law enforcement about the crash.
“Such advice was to the advantage of Paul and (Alex) Murdaugh and against the interests of Fleming’s new client, (Connor) Cook, increasing the potential that Plaintiff Cook would continue to be a suspect and potentially face criminal charges as operator of the boat,” the lawsuit said.
Fleming is also accused of working with Murdaugh to prevent the heirs of the Murdaugh family’s housekeeper from collecting on a multi-million-dollar settlement.
The Murdaugh’s housekeeper and nanny, Gloria Satterfield, died in February 2018 after a trip and fall at the Murdaugh family home, according to court filings.
Eric Bland, an attorney for Satterfield’s two sons, accuses Fleming and Murdaugh of diverting a $4.3 million settlement related to Satterfield’s death to a bank account called “Forge.” An order approving the $4.3 million settlement was never filed in court, Bland says.
“Allegedly, Mr. Murdaugh had Cory Fleming make that check payable to Forge, the remaining amount of that almost $4 million that was recovered and then he took the rest, or that’s what we are told,” Bland, the Columbia-based attorney representing Satterfield’s heirs, told NewsNation TV Saturday.
Fleming’s law license?
During the NewsNation interview, Bland told anchor Ashleigh Banfield that he provided the S.C. Bar with a copy of his lawsuit against Fleming and that he expects an investigation.
If the bar finds that Fleming misappropriated money, assisted others in misappropriating money or enriched others with material information from his clients, Fleming’s license could be jeopardized, Bland said.
“He could have his license impacted either through suspension or, ultimately, he could lose his license,” he said. “Two things we learned in law school: Never lie to your client, never steal from your client. If you do, you’re going to lose your ticket.”
Mary-Kathryn Craft, communications director for the S.C. Bar, did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Kimberly Smith
The accusations against Fleming have also renewed interest in another lawyer who used to work for Moss, Kuhn & Fleming and the solicitor’s office.
Kimberly Smith, a former assistant solicitor with the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, was fired last year after being disbarred by the S.C. State Supreme Court for lying to clients while working for Moss, Kuhn & Fleming.
Smith was fired after a partner at the firm, Fred Kuhn, discovered she had lied to a client, according to previous reporting.
“She violated the trust not only her clients had in her, but also we had in her,” Kuhn previously told The Island Packet. He said he reported Smith to the S.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
However, less than six months after being fired from Moss, Kuhn & Fleming, 14th Circuit Solicitor Duffie Stone hired Smith to work on his office’s career criminal team.
Stone said that he knew Smith before her days working as a personal injury attorney. Out of law school, she clerked for Judge Perry Buckner, then worked for the solicitor’s office when Stone was the deputy solicitor.
The investigation by the S.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, a public agency that oversees complaints against judges and lawyers, found four separate instances of Smith repeatedly lying to clients about the details of their cases and about the work she was doing for them.
Stone subsequently fired Smith after she was disbarred by the Supreme Court.
“She was a talented lawyer and a very good trial lawyer,” Stone said. “I don’t know what happened at her civil law firm. It didn’t happen at the Solicitor’s Office, and we have enough checks and balances to catch it if it had.”
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 9:31 AM.
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