Court orders disciplinary action on Butler attorney

The Supreme Court of Missouri ordered, then stayed a suspension of the law license of Butler, Mo. attorney Corey M. Swischer in a disciplinary order handed down May 29, and placed him on probation for a period of two years.

He will be allowed to continue practicing law while on probation, but the terms of the probation state that there "shall be no further violations of Supreme Court Rules 4, 6 and 15."

Those rules apply to professional conduct, fees to practice law and continuing legal education, respectively.

The court order comes after an investigation into Swischer's professional conduct after complaints against him were filed by five clients Swischer represented in legal matters ranging from child custody to bankruptcy.

The sanction was meted out after it was determined that Swischer violated provisions of Supreme Court Rule 4, a section dealing with rules of professional conduct. Some of the provisions of Rule 4 that were violated, according to the court order, are parts of those sections pertaining to fees, communication, expediting litigation, and responsibility regarding nonlawyer assistants and diligence.

In oral arguments before the Supreme Court on May 10, Shannon L. Briesacher, a staff attorney for the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, said five sets of complaints in this case tell "virtually the same story." They tell of an attorney who made "no positive progress" toward a positive resolution of their clients' case.

Briesacher asserted that Swischer "cut off communication" with his clients, "refused to return dozens of telephone messages" missed filing deadlines and court dates and "failed to take responsibility for his misconduct."

Briesacher also said that "pervasive negligence, as there is in this case can only be corrected" if someone takes responsibility. She said, the respondent refused to do so in this case, even though the "respondent admitted all of the factual allegations that were plead in the information."

In her closing argument, Briesacher said, "the facts as plead in information constitute rule violations," and asserted that they show "a pattern of neglect" of client affairs sanctionable by suspension.

Swischer's side of the oral argument was presented by R. Todd Wilhelmus of Caskey, Hopkins and Wilhelmus LLC of Butler.

Wilhelmus claimed that the "facts were simply misstated," and that the "only deadline missed was one." he asked the court to look at the record to see if they could "find another missed deadline."

Wilhelmus stated that there was no "pattern of neglect" in the case.

Wilhelmus did admit that Swischer missed a meeting in a bankruptcy case and that there were lots of unreturned calls. Wilhelmus also told the court that Swischer "did respond to some letters" from the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel regarding the complaints against him. The number of letters answered was in dispute and Wilhelmus said, "it was not a complete blow-off."

Wilhelmus said that mitigating factors such as inefficient office personnel helped create the situation with the unanswered letters.

He said proficient staff members are hard to find in Butler because of the size of the community, but rules of the court are clear in that an attorney is responsible for the actions of his staff.

Wilhelmus argued that a suspension of Swischer's license to practice law was too serious and that a reprimand would be sufficient punishment in this case.

On Tuesday, the court also handed down decisions in four cases that included three appeals and one review. Swischer's suspension was one of a total of six disciplinary orders handed down against attorneys from across the state.

Swischer could not be reached for comment and Wilhelmus did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

For more information on this case go to http://www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=54534.

To see the entire docket summary and briefs for this case or to listen to the oral arguments, go to http://www.courts.mo.gov/SUP/index.nsf/fe8feff4659e0b7b8625699f0079eddf/8f8f45c6....