JEFFERSON CITY — Marshall attorney Joby J. Raines has been disbarred by default following a March 6 Missouri Supreme Court order after multiple DWI convictions earlier this decade and a complaint from a former client.
Raines failed to timely file an answer to allegations against him, despite being properly served, and he was found in default, according to the state Supreme Court's order signed by Chief Justice Zel M. Fischer. Raines also was ordered to pay costs, according to the state high court's order.
Raines was admitted to the Missouri bar in September 2003, according to the chief disciplinary counsel's brief filed with the state Supreme Court in October 2014.
Allegations against Raines date back to the month following his admission to the bar when he was cited by Springfield police for DWI, according to the informant's brief. Raines was again cited for DWI in July 2004, according to the informant's brief. He entered guilty pleas in both cases. Raines was sentenced to a year of supervised probation in the first, and received a 90-day suspended jail sentence and two years' unsupervised probation for the second, according to the informant's brief.
Raines did not report those convictions to disciplinary authorities, according to the brief.
In February 2012 he was again charged with DWI, this time as a persistent alcohol offender, and after his guilty plea to misdemeanor DWI he was placed on two years' supervised probation, according to the informant's brief.
In a matter unrelated to Raines' DWI convictions, a former client filed a complaint against him when Raines failed to respond to her following her divorce involving child custody, according to the informant's brief.
In February 2015, the state Supreme Court found Raines guilty of misconduct and handed down a stayed indefinite suspension and placed him on two years' probation. In October 2015, the high court extended the probation after finding Raines had violated the terms of that probation.
In November 2016, the state Supreme Court revoked Raines' probation, vacating the previous stay, after he allegedly failed to comply with the terms of probation. On that occasion, Raines was alleged to have violated multiple professional conduct rules, including rules regarding bar admission and disciplinary matters and misconduct.