On Wednesday, March 13, 2024, the Supreme Court of Missouri suspended attorney Chelsea Kay Merta’s law license.

The case is entitled “In the Matter of Chelsea Kay Merta,” with case no. SC100236.

The charges cited Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct 4-3.4(c), 4-8.4(c), and4-8.4(d). 

According to court records, Merta resigned from Stange Law Firm in February 2018 to open her own solo practice. Before resigning, she deleted work products from her law firm laptop and client text messages and emails from her work cell phone. She also took client files and downloaded additional client information onto a flash drive.

Stange Law Firm sued Merta, alleging she violated the Missouri computer tampering act and breached her contract, duty of loyalty, and fiduciary duties to the firm. A circuit court issued a temporary restraining order requiring Merta to return all firm-related files, documents, and information. However, Merta did not fully comply with the order, leading to a judgment of contempt against her in January 2019.

In 2022, the Chief Disciplinary Counsel filed a misconduct case against Merta with the disciplinary hearing panel, alleging her actions related to the Stange Law Firm violated professional conduct rules. The panel recommended an indefinite suspension stayed in favor of probation. However, the Supreme Court rejected this recommendation and ordered further briefing.

In its March 13 order, the Supreme Court found Merta violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. Given her misconduct and lack of cooperation, the Court suspended Merta’s law license indefinitely. She must also pay $1,000 in costs to the Advisory Committee Fund.

The Disposition states:

“Upon consideration of these findings, previous decisions of this Court, ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Discipline, and aggravating and mitigating circumstances, this Court suspends Respondent’s license indefinitely with no leave to apply for reinstatement for a period of six months from the date of this order.”

According to the filing, Ms. Merta acquired her law license in Missouri in 2014.

A copy of the original filing can be found here.