JEFFERSON CITY (St. Louis Record) — Kansas City attorney Michael Joseph Gunter, who was placed probation in 2017 after an alleged consensual sexual relationship with a client, has successfully completed his probation, according to a March 1 Missouri Supreme Court order.
The state Supreme Court's order followed a motion filed by Gunter.
"[Gunter] having filed a motion for order of successful completion of probation and in consideration of the response of the chief disciplinary counsel to said motion, it is hereby ordered that [Gunter] has successfully completed the probationary period set forth in the court's order dated Feb. 28, 2017, and [Gunter]’s probation is ordered terminated," the order said.
The high court also ordered Gunter to pay all costs in the matter.
Gunter was admitted to the bar in Missouri on Sept. 27, 1991, according to his profile at The Missouri Bar's website.
In its February 2017 order, the state Supreme Court handed down a stayed suspension of two years and placed Gunter on two years' conditional probation, which began the date of the court's order. Had Gunter violated the terms of the probation, as reached in a decision previously handed down by a disciplinary hearing panel, his probation could had been revoked and the suspension taken effect with no petition for reinstatement entertained for two years, according to the 2017 order.
Among the profession conduct rules Gunter was alleged to have violated were those regarding the requirement that attorneys not have a sexual relationship with a client unless both parties were involved in a consensual sexual relationship prior to legal representation.
Gunter also was alleged to have violated professional conduct rules regarding representing a client with a concurrent conflict of interest, improper termination of representation and informing a client about limitations of legal services that can be provided.
Neither court order provided any details about any of Gunter's alleged professional conduct rules violations.