JEFFERSON CITY – Longtime St. Louis attorney Elbert A. Walton Jr., suspended more than two years ago following "obnoxious and disrespectful" behavior during a 2013 bankruptcy case, has been disbarred by default following a Dec. 24 Missouri Supreme Court order.
In its order, the Supreme Court found Walton violated professional conduct rules, including those regarding diligence, communication, fees, trust accounts and property of others, declining or terminating representation.
The order provided no details about the allegations.
Walton failed to file an answer to charges against him, according to the order.
The high court also ordered Walton to pay costs.
Walton was admitted to the bar in Missouri in 1974, according to court documents.
Walton was suspended more than two years ago over his alleged behavior during a September 2013 status conference before U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Missouri's Eastern District, described in the Missouri Office of Disciplinary Counsel's brief at the time. In that matter, Walton had been representing another attorney whose client allegedly had failed to adequately represent her in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.
"Mr. Walton was obnoxious and disrespectful in his tone and demeanor," the Missouri Office of Disciplinary Counsel said in its brief at the time. "He accused the court of ignoring his (irrelevant) accusations of perjury and his unpersuasive arguments. He insisted that he was correct about procedural issues when he was not, implying that the court did not know the rules of procedure, and claiming (wrongly – twice), 'That’s what the rules say!' but citing no rule."
Walton was subsequently suspended by the bankruptcy court, and in April 2017, the Supreme Court reciprocally suspended Walton with no application for reinstatement to be considered for 18 months from the date of the court's order.
In previous disciplines described in the brief, Walton was admonished in 1989 for allegedly violating professional conduct rules regarding competence, diligence and communication, and was reprimanded in 2001 for violating rules regarding fees, responsibilities over nonattorney assistants and unauthorized practice of law.
In late 2004, Walton was reprimanded for violating professional conduct rules regarding conduct intended to disrupt a tribunal and prejudicial to the administration of justice, according to the brief.