JEFFERSON CITY — Potosi attorney Michael P. Kelly has been disbarred following a March 6 Missouri Supreme Court ruling after the chief disciplinary counsel investigation turned up alleged professional misconduct.
The chief disciplinary counsel filed notice of default with the state Supreme Court that Kelly failed to timely file an answer or other response, according to the high court's brief order issued March 6. Failure to file an answer has left Kelly in default and the chief disciplinary counsel recommended discipline, which prompted the court to disbar him and require he pay costs in the matter, according to the order.
Kelly was voluntarily indefinitely suspended last May.
Kelly was admitted to the bar in 1984, according to the 22-page informant's brief filed with the state Supreme Court by the chief disciplinary counsel in January 2017.
"Kelly has developed an unenviable record, over many years, of unprofessional conduct toward his clients," said the conclusion of the informant's brief, which was signed by chief disciplinary counsel staff member Sharon K. Weedin.
Kelly's disciplinary history stretches back to 1994 when he first was admonished for allegedly failing to respond to a client's request for information in a guardianship case, according to the informant's brief.
The informant's brief described four client matters since his last admonition in which complaints had been filed against Kelly and he acknowledged 14 violations of professional conduct rules. In one of the four client matters described in the informant's brief, Kelly admitted he failed to provide an accounting of fees a couple paid him when he represented them against a creditor and did not return their file after they hired another attorney, according to the brief.
Kelly and the chief disciplinary counsel jointly recommended the high court indefinitely suspend Kelly, with leave to apply for reinstatement after six months, following his acknowledgment of 14 violations of professional conduct rules in four client matter, according to the informant's brief. The high court handed down that indefinite suspension last spring.