Cape Girardeau attorney Dale Edward Gerecke has been suspended following a Nov. 21 Missouri Supreme Court order over allegations he improperly took funds from a law firm where he'd formerly been a partner.
The court found Gerecke guilty of professional misconduct and suspended him with leave to apply for reinstatement after six months from the date the court's order. The state high court also ordered Gerecke to pay $1,000 in costs.
Gerecke acknowledged he took almost $5,000 in funds from his former law firm, all of which he later repaid, according to Gerecke's brief and that of the office of chief disciplinary counsel filed with the high court.
In a previous discipline, Gerecke was admonished in March of 2010 after he failed to adequately communicate with a client, to provide a full accounting of fees paid and for not being reasonably diligent in his representation of his client, according to Gerecke's brief and that of the office of chief disciplinary counsel.
Gerecke is past president of Thirty-First Circuit Bar Association Young Lawyer Section and was secretary, treasurer and vice-president of the circuit bar association, in addition to being a presenter at two Missouri Bar Association continuing legal education events, according to his brief and that of the office of chief disciplinary counsel.
Gerecke joined the law firm of Bradshaw, Steele, Cochrane and Berens in Cape Girardeau shortly after he graduated from law school and was licensed in 1982 and remained with that firm until December 2015 and then joined Drury Southwest, according to his brief and that of the office of chief disciplinary counsel.
About a month later, he was contacted by his former employer after a client's $1,500 payment could not be accounted for and, during a subsequent meeting with members of that firm, Gerecke admitted he had taken the funds, according to his brief and that of the office of chief disciplinary counsel. Shortly after that meeting, Gerecke repaid those funds and an additional $3,000 he also admitted to taking, according to his brief and that of the office of chief disciplinary counsel. An additional $400 also was identified as missing by the office of chief disciplinary counsel and Gerecke also repaid those funds, according to his brief and that of the office of chief disciplinary counsel.