After the Missouri Supreme Court denied Mark and Patricia McCloskey’s request to represent Project Veritas (PV) to fulfill their 100 hours of service probation requirement, they applied to the Legal Services of Eastern Missouri (LSEM)
But the director of the Franklin County (LSEM), where the McCloskeys reside, didn’t think they were a good fit, according to Mark McCloskey.
“I'm diligently trying to comply with what I think is an arbitrary and unreasonable requirement on my part to do pro bono work since what I've been doing for 37 years is representing the poor and impoverished anyway and now I'm in this trick bag where everybody that I would like to work pro bono for the bar says ‘You can't work for them’ or they say ‘You can't work for us'," he said.
The Legal Services of Eastern Missouri did not respond to requests for comment.
Both are trial attorneys who founded the McCloskey Law Center prior to rising in national prominence during George Floyd protests two years ago.
“I'm a little concerned that when my year of probation is up, I will not have found anybody they find acceptable for me to work with or the reverse, and then we’re never going to be allowed to practice law again because we can't complete that aspect of our punishment,” McCloskey said.
The McCloskeys were arrested and charged with misdemeanors for brandishing guns in front of their St. Louis home while demonstrators marched towards former Mayor Lyda Krewson’s home nearby.
They were subsequently ordered to complete pro bono legal services to organizations that provide legal services without charge for impoverished Missourians.
“I'm finding that to be a little frustrating,” McCloskey told the St. Louis Record. “Between now and the beginning of the new year, I’ve got to come up with a hundred hours for me and a hundred hours for my wife of free legal work and there doesn't seem to be any entity that wants us to work for them or the ones that do want me to work for them, I'm not allowed to work for under the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel. So, I'm not sure it's particularly unbiased.”
The Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel (OCDC) did not respond to requests for comment.
The Missouri Supreme Court denied the McCloskeys request to work with Project Veritas on May 18.
“The Rule defines an 'approved legal assistance organization' to be one that meets the requirements of section 105.711.2. RSMo, or is approved by this Court for services under this Rule,” wrote Missouri Supreme Court Chief Judge Paul Wilson in the order on behalf of the court.