PERRY COUNTY – A case involving a Hattiesburg lawyer from Lowndes County found in civil contempt has been moved to the Mississippi Supreme Court after the Mississippi Bar requested he be temporarily suspended from practicing law.
Corey Ferraez was found in civil contempt last month in connection to the 2022 wrongful death settlement of Stephen Ray “Fuzzy” Weatherford.
Ferraez, the attorney for the estate, was entrusted to hold $450,000 in settlement funds. After several missed court dates between 2024 and this year, Ferraez voluntarily appeared for a hearing July 14, at which he still refused to turn over a remaining $48,033.77 to the Perry County Clerk’s Office. Ferraez was arrested and placed in Perry County Jail.
After only 10 days in custody, Ferraez was released by 10th District Chancery Court Judge Sheila Smallwood and was placed on house arrest for 30 days, contingent upon tendering the remaining balance to the clerk’s office.
That deadline passed Aug. 24. In that month, Ferraez tendered two payments totaling only $2,000 to the clerk’s office.
The Mississippi Bar filed a formal complaint against Ferraez with the Mississippi Supreme Court last week, as well as a motion requesting Ferraez be suspended from practicing law for “a period of greater than six months” due to “misappropriation and failure to safekeep funds entrusted to him” the following day.
Smallwood filed an order three days later, lifting Ferraez’s house arrest and relinquishing the court’s jurisdiction of “all disciplinary measures” pertaining to Ferraez to the complaint tribunal of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
The Bar’s request for suspension outlined two informal complaints of Ferraez, one submitted by Sylvia Weatherford, the widow of the deceased and sole beneficiary of the wrongful death settlement, and a second complaint submitted by another client involved in a 2023 motor vehicle settlement case.
The second matter of misappropriation involved $39,163.56 in settlement funds, which Ferraez received in full in November but allegedly refused to turn over to his client.
The motion said Ferraez committed the “cardinal sin” of lawyering: stealing client funds.
“If creditors are hounding a lawyer, he can take bankruptcy,” the motion reads. “If he is hungry, he can go to the Salvation Army. But mishandling other peoples’ money is a thought he should never entertain.”
The motion also cited Ferraez’ self proclaimed depression and addiction issues as reasons for his suspension.
As of Tuesday, no response had been filed to the Bar’s request.
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