On October 13, 2022, the Supreme Court of Missouri ruled on the disciplinary charges against Bonne Terre Attorney Kimberly D. Tyler alleging unauthorized practice of law and trust account violations.
The ruling suspended Tyler’s license for two years, with the suspension stayed and probation for a period of three years.
The case titled In Re: Kimberly Tyler was brought by the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, case no. SC99622.
The charges cited Rules 4-1.9, 4-1.15(a),(b),(c) and (f), 4-1.16(d), and 4-8.4(c) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Tyler admitted violations, as stipulated in the Respondent’s Brief are as follows:
“The charges against Ms. Tyler involve two categories of violations. The first is that she briefly entered her appearance adverse to a prior client, Jason Williams, in a custody matter brought by her daughter in an attempt to gain custody of a child for whom the daughter had been caring. This was the same case in which she had previously represented Williams. This, while misguided, was an attempt to calm her anxious daughter and is the less serious violation.
This second category of violations is the more serious. Those violations are accurately summarized in the Informant’s Brief. They include the failure to maintain and preserve Trust Account records, the failure to reconcile the Trust Account, and the failure to remove her own, earned fees from the Trust Account on a timely basis. The most serious violation in this category is Ms. Tyler’s deposit of unearned fees into her Operating Account (rather than her Trust account) with the use of a “nonrefundable fee” agreement. On several occasions the balance in that account fell below the amount of unearned fees, resulting in her technically having spent money that belonged to her client. Nonetheless, Ms. Tyler did not intend to use her client’s money as her own. She did not intentionally take any of her client’s money and she provided all legal services paid for by her clients. In other words, no client was harmed by the actual loss of any money.”
Respondent persuades the Court that her conduct does not warrant suspension and respectfully requests the Court to adopt the Disciplinary Hearing Panel’s recommendation of probation with significant conditions as the appropriate sanction.
Accordingly, the Supreme Court of Missouri, upon consideration of the findings, its previous decisions, ABA Standards for Imposing Lawyer Discipline, and aggravating and mitigating factors ruled for the suspension of Respondent’s license for a period of two years from the date of this order. The suspension is stayed and Respondent is placed on probation for a period of three years from the date of this order.
Ms. Tyler practices in Bonne Terre, Missouri where she maintains Tyler Law Office. She graduated from Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1998. She has been licensed in Missouri.
A copy of the original filing can be found here.
