North Kansas City immigration attorney Allan H. Bell has been reinstated to the practice of law in Missouri after successfully completing a probation that began in 2015, following alleged rules violations, according to a recent Missouri Supreme Court order.
Bell filed a motion with the state high court for order or successful completion of probation, according to the Missouri Supreme Court's July 19 order. The court took into consideration the chief disciplinary counsels response to Bell's motion and then ordered that Bell's probationary period had been successfully completed, according to the order.
Bell also was ordered to pay the costs but the amount was not specified in the state supreme court's most recent order in Bell's case.
In addition to immigration, Bell's other areas of practice included bankruptcy, business, construction, labor and employment, medical malpractice, personal injury and workers compensation, according to his profile at myvisajobs.com. Bell was admitted to the bar in Missouri in 1967, according to the profile.
Bell was disciplined by the Missouri Supreme Court in September 2015 for allegedly violating rules of professional conduct, specifically for violating the court's Rule 4-8.4(d), according to the order issued by the high court at the time. That rule states, among other things, that attorneys in the state should not "commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects" or "engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice".
Bell's license to practice law in Missouri was indefinitely suspended, with that suspension stayed, and Bell was placed on 18 months' probation and fined $1,500, according to the 2015 order. Had Bell's probation been revoked, the stayed suspension would have taken effect and the high court would not have entertained a petition for reinstatement during that time, according to the 2015 order.
The state Supreme Court's 2015 order was not the first time Bell had been disciplined in Missouri. In 2009, Bell was reprimanded and fined $750 for improperly charging overhead office expenses against a client’s cost and fee deposit, according to a Missouri Supreme Court order filed at that time. The high court ruled that was a violation of court Rule 4-1.5(a), according to that order.