Calhoun County, AL – A new lawsuit was filed against Marshall “Douglass” Ghee in Calhoun County. The first lawsuit was reported on August 28, 2024, and covered a wide array of alleged legal violations. This new lawsuit that was filed with the Circuit Court of Calhoun County on September 4, 2024, listed more allegations of possible sexual assault, false imprisonment, extortion, and negligence.
In this new lawsuit, it was described by the Plaintiff that she had contacted Doug Ghee in reference to a child custody case with her estranged husband. On or about October 18, 2022*, Ghee charged the Plaintiff a “Flat Fee” of $1,800 for the law firms’ involvement. On or about October 19, 2022, Ghee requested another meeting with the Plaintiff and notified her that a divorce petition had also been filed but not yet served. To also handle this would cost the plaintiff another “Flat Fee” of $3,500 which the plaintiff agreed. It is also alleged that during this first meeting Ghee brought the plaintiff into a private office and while they were speaking to each other he asked her if “she was good at keeping her mouth shut?” The Plaintiff did not want to attend a court hearing at that time due to her possibly testing positive for THC from the use of legal Delta 8/CBD products. The complaint states “after being informed of this, once again asked Plaintiff “if she was good at keeping her mouth shut?”; “Are you good at keeping secrets?”, and other vague statements, gauging whether he could take advantage of Plaintiff or not.” The complaint goes on to allege that at the end of the meeting, Ghee walked to the door and blocked the plaintiff from leaving. He then “grabbed Plaintiff with both hands by her face, and began kissing her without invitation.” The complaint also stated that during this time a sexual assault also occurred. The complaint reads, “Specifically, Doug began running his hands across the Plaintiff’s clothed body, without invitation.
Specifically, Doug took his hands and inserted them into the Plaintiff’s pants, and began touching her in a sexual manner. Plaintiff, in a state of shock, looked at Doug, and without Plaintiff saying anything, Doug stated: “You’re good at keeping your mouth shut right?”, and “Look, if you want to have the upperhand in court and get what you want, you’ll do what I say.”
It was also alleged in the complaint that the Plaintiff had an Ex Parte Motion for a Custody Hearing on October 20, 2022. The Plaintiff was not present in the courtroom, but Ghee was able to secure her supervised visitation with her minor child. It was unclear how this result was achieved as the Plaintiff was not privy to any conversations between Ghee and Opposing Counsel.
During the time period from October 2022 to February 2023, it is alleged that Ghee contacted the Plaintiff numerous times to come to his office to discuss the case. The Plaintiff has stated that each and every meeting resulted in a sexual assault against her. It was also alleged that during some of these assaults Ghee would “with no interest in the actual case, continually would coerce or threaten Plaintiff that her failure to do what he wanted her to, namely sexually please him in a locked environment within The Firm without her ability to escape, would result in adverse action against her case.”
The lawsuit also advised that Ghee was not prepared for the actual court hearing regarding the child custody and divorce which led to the Plaintiff losing custody of the minor child and only being granted visitation every other weekend.
The complaint also makes a statement that, “Doug, instead of undertaking the job of an attorney, instead undertook the job of a predator, and controlled Plaintiff from their initial meeting through various means, including using his connections to produce falsified drug screens, producing letters to be signed off on by Edith Couch, LPC, when in fact Edith Couch, LPC never met face to face with Plaintiff for counseling sessions.”
It has also been alleged that Ghee hired a locksmith to change the Plaintiff’s residential locks so he would also have access to the residence.
The Lawsuit lists the following counts against Ghee:
- COUNT I – SEXUAL ASSAULT AND BATTERY
- COUNT II – NEGLIGENCE/NEGLIGENCE PER SE
- COUNT III – FALSE IMPRISONMENT
- COUNT IV – LEGAL MALPRACTICE
- COUNT V – EXTORTION/ATTEMPTED EXTORTION
- COUNT VI – UNJUST ENRICHMENT
Also on September 4th, Doung Ghee surrendered his law license to the Alabama Bar and was removed from attorney rolls.
Currently, there is also still an active criminal investigation into Ghee. The evidence collected has been brought to the Attorney General’s Office and they are reviewing the information and evidence to make a determination as to possible charges.
*Editor’s Note: This article was originally released with a typo that stated the date was 2024. This has been corrected to the correct year of 2022.
