JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (St. Louis Record) — Dexter attorney Jay R. Yorke is no longer on probation following a Dec. 6 Missouri Supreme Court order.
The Supreme Court ordered that Yorke had successfully completed about five years' probation and ordered that probation terminated. The high court also ordered York to pay costs in the matter.
In its November 2013 order, the state Supreme Court handed down a fully stayed one-year suspension and three years' probation. That court order followed allegations that Yorke violated professional conduct rules, including those regarding diligence, communication and expediting litigation.
Yorke was admitted to the bar in Missouri on Sept. 10, 1985, according to his profile at The Missouri Bar's website.
After the chief disciplinary counsel filed its case against Yorke, the solo practitioner entered into a stipulation that included his recommended discipline, according to Yorke's brief and that of the chief disciplinary counsel filed with the high court.
Allegations against Yorke stem from alleged misconduct in four matters opened in 2009, 2011 and 2012, according to the chief disciplinary counsel's brief.
"The proposed conditions of probation are designed to provide the probation monitor with the information needed to adequately supervise Mr. Yorke's conduct, and [the chief disciplinary counsel] believes Mr. Yorke is unlikely to harm the public during the period of probation," the brief said.
During the time of his alleged misconduct, Yorke suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and an anxiety disorder, "which appeared to be a significant contributing cause of the misconduct," and Yorke underwent treatment, the chief disciplinary counsel's brief said.
"Mr. Yorke is remorseful for his actions and acknowledges that he did not handle the situations in an appropriate manner," the brief said.
In a previous discipline, Yorke was admonished in December 2009 for lack of diligence after he allegedly failed to timely file a lawsuit and to communicate with his client, according to the chief disciplinary counsel's brief.