A complaint has been filed with the 5th District Court by the Utah State Bar’s Office of Professional Conduct against a defense attorney in St. George, according to The Spectrum.

Todd Wahlquist, the bar’s deputy senior counsel, filed the complaint against Bryan Adamson. The complaint claims that Adamson accepted a $5,000 payment to represent Iron County resident Haylee Cheek. After little involvement in the case, Adamson was terminated, but he refused to return the money. Adamson said that he views the money as non-refundable.

“We’ve been fighting over it for over a year,” Adamson said when notified that Cheek’s parents filed a complaint against him.

Adamson is charged with three counts of unprofessional conduct from an investigation by the Ethics and Discipline Committee. The investigation was conducted under the rules that govern lawyer fees, the termination of representation and safekeeping a client’s property.



Adamson could be reprimanded, suspended or disbarred after arguments and evidence are presented to the court. The OPC has also asked that Adamson be found liable for court costs and other fees that the court finds just.

Adamson was handed two public reprimands in 2012 because of his billing practices. Those were handed down by the ethics committee of the bar. The formal complaint filed by the OPC against Adamson was the first filed against him.

Cheek was charged with multiple crimes from December of 2009 to April of 2010, but the info appears to be wrong because Cheek was charged in December of 2007 with armed robbery, sexual assault and kidnapping. In April of 2010, Cheek was charged with burglary, theft, fraud and drug charges. She was convicted of her crimes and sentenced to seven years to life in prison. She is serving her sentence, but has appealed the verdict from the jury to the state Court of Appeals.

Adamson was retained in July of 2010 by Cheek’s parents for a misdemeanor DUI case. Adamson was told he would represent Cheek in her other cases as well. Adamson received a $5,000 payment from Cheek’s parents, but a typical charge for a misdemeanor DUI case from Adamson is $750, according to Wahlquist.

Adamson was fired before the DUI case or any other case and the Cheek family asked for an itemized bill and the return of unearned fees.

“We had a flat fee contract and I told them, ‘No,’” Adamson said. “I’d already been to Cedar (City) twice. I had already used the majority of the money.”