JEFFERSON CITY – Former Glendale Mayor and longtime St. Louis attorney Richard Joseph "Rich" Magee is on probation following a June 4 Missouri Supreme Court order over allegations he mishandled a wrongful termination lawsuit.
In its order, the Supreme Court handed down a fully stayed indefinite suspension and placed Magee on two years of conditional probation.
"Should probation be revoked and the suspension take effect, no petition for reinstatement shall be entertained for a period of six months from the date the suspension becomes effective," the court's order said.
Magee also was ordered to pay $1,500 to the advisory committee, in addition to all costs in the disciplinary matter.
Magee was admitted to the bar in Missouri on April 16, 1980, according to his profile at The Missouri Bar's website. Magee set up his solo practice, The Magee Law Firm, in Clayton in November 2015.
Magee appeared before a Missouri Supreme Court disciplinary committee last fall to face allegations that he twice failed to appear in St. Louis County Circuit Court on behalf of a client in a racial and retaliatory employment termination case.
In his brief filed with the court in March, Magee said he accepted and regretted that his actions violated professional conduct rules and agreed to the disciplinary committee's recommendations for discipline. Magee also admitted to his substantial and discipline-free law practice experience but that he "unfortunately had, at the time of mistakes in question, had little experience in law office administration and management," the brief said, speaking of himself in third person.
"As a result of being ill-equipped to manage his practice in the early stages of his solo practice, the serious mistakes that are the subject of this disciplinary action occurred," Magee said in his brief. "The foregoing is to give context to the numerous improvements that have been made and continue to be made to [Magee]'s law practice.
Magee represented Ward III on Glendale's Board of Alderman for about 10 years, beginning in February of 1995, and then served six terms as mayor.
Glendale's new mayor, former Ward II Alderman Mike Wilcox, ran unopposed in April's election and was sworn into office on May 6.