Trust fund lawyer took kids' money

AUSTIN (KXAN) - An Austin attorney is behind bars for crimes prosecutors say lasted for nearly a decade. His victims were mostly children and his crimes involved more than a half-million dollars of their money.

John Williams "Will"Coates is a well-known Austin attorney who was supposed to be protecting the legal rights of more than 100 kids. Instead, prosecutors say, he violated that trust by lying, forging signatures and misapplying hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Coates served as what the legal system calls a guardian ad litem, appointed by the courts to represent the best interests of children during legal proceedings in Travis and Williamson counties. But as it turned out, under Coates’ guardianship, the children's best interests often took second place to his own.

“How can he stand there and say, OK, you can trust me to be the best lawyer for the kids,’ and then come back and siphon off this money?” asked Chris Childs, father of one of Coates’ victims.

Coates was appointed to represent dozens of children who were awarded money in lawsuits. Their money was supposed to be put into a trust registered with the county clerk until they turned age 18. 

But there was a problem. Investigators say Coates didn’t deposit the money into the county registry.  

Austin Police Detective Billy Petty investigated every case in which Coates was the guardian ad litem dating back to 2001. 

“What the investigation showed was that the money was co-mingled and used with his personal expenses,” Petty told KXAN. 

Coates had been living in a home in the upscale Rob Roy neighborhood valued a $1,066,494 on appraisal rolls until it was recently sold. His law practice was located at 2901 Bee Caves Road.  

Petty says the misapplication totaled $670,450 and included 138 victims. Two of those victims are Chris Childs’ kids. Childs had to deal with Coates directly to get his children's money.

“We waited about, I guess about five weeks,” said Childs. “They said initially they had sent the check, (then) they had lost the check, (then) they didn't know. Then he said, ‘No I'm sorry we really didn't send the check. We'll send it today.'”

Eventually, Childs’ son and daughter got their money. But Childs had to drive to Coates' office to get the check, which was odd because the money was supposed to be held at the Travis County Clerk's Office, not Coates law office. 

That fact didn’t go unnoticed by investigators who also discovered Coates had endorsed checks to himself and on several occasions forged the signature of Travis County Clerk, Dana DeBeauvoir. 

“That was surprising as well that it would go that far,” DeBeauvoir told KXAN. “That's a lot of chutzpah. I was surprised."

DeBeauvoir and her staff were the first to uncover Coates’ criminal activity and bring it to the attention of the District Attorney's Office. DeBeauvoir said that even though the guardians ad litem and attorneys are trusted officers of the court, she found a loophole that allowed Coates to commit his crimes. 

So, DeBeauvoir said she and her staff looked at the oversight systems in place for monitoring the 584 custodial accounts in the court registry and made some changes so it doesn’t happen again. About 100 new accounts are opened each year, she said. 

“With the new auditing rules and our new awareness of this possibility I'm hoping that that loophole is now closed,” said DeBeauvoir. 

To ensure the money would be repaid, prosecutors struck a plea agreement with Coates. 

“If we had recommended a prison sentence, on its face there’s a good chance these children would never have gotten their money,” Van Winkle said. 

The six months in jail followed by 10 years of probation Coates received as his sentence is something Assistant District Attorney Gail Van Winkle said she carefully considered. 

“We felt that he needed to be punished and probation in and of itself, because it doesn't involve incarceration, we didn't feel was enough,” she said.

As part of the deal, Van Winkle said Coates also agreed to relinquish his law license and pay restitution to any other children that may become a part of this case in the future. For the parents of the children involved, it’s a fair resolution to a troubling story.        

“I think it's closure, and, I think it's justice,” said Childs.

For Petty, it’s a pat on the back for doing his job. Many of these kids and their families didn’t even know their money was missing until they were contacted by the Austin Police Department.  But now, it’ll be there for them when they turn 18. 

“It’s fantastic that we were able to get all of the money that was owed to these children,” Petty told KXAN. “Is it satisfying? I don't know. It’s my job.”

Coates will begin his 10-year probation term upon his release from prison in six months. Prosecutors say he likely will never practice law again. The State Bar of Texas confirms Coates is ineligible to practice law in Texas currently for administrative reasons.

"When an attorney has been convicted of an intentional