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| And so, as the force transfers . . . |
By Andrew Delaney
If a lawyer has multiple law licenses, and the lawyer gets in trouble in one of the places he has a license, then he’s generally subject to reciprocal discipline. It’s kind of like if you lose your driver’s license in one state, you generally lose it in all states. This case is not an exception to the rule.
Side note: when available, I tend to link to the Google Scholar versions of cases. That’s because the links are to regular webpages as opposed to the Vermont Judiciary links which are to PDF files and can be problematic. The Google version of this case linked above does have a big ol’ “Do Not Publish” on its version. I assure you that the PDF on the Judiciary site has the “Publish” box checked. I don’t know as anyone besides me really cares . . . but now you know. Google? If you’re listening, could you fix that, please?
Attorney Moyer is licensed in Tennessee and—one must assume—Vermont. The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility found that Attorney Moyer collected partial fees from bankruptcy clients and requiring installment payments on the remaining fees after their bankruptcy petitions were filed.
Attorney Moyer didn’t tell his clients that they had no legal obligation to pay his fees after the petition was filed. He collected post-petition fees, which created a conflict of interest because that meant Attorney Moyer put himself in the position of creditor with his own clients. Sometimes, he filed civil collection actions after discharge in bankruptcy, which violated federal law. He also requested another one-third attorney’s fee on top of the debt while acting in a pro se capacity.
The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility found that Attorney Moyer violated the Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct on competence, communication, fees, conflict of interest, duties to former clients, meritorious claims, and misconduct, and publicly censured Attorney Moyer for these violations.
Disciplinary Counsel for the Vermont Professional Responsibility Board filed a certified copy of the Order of Public Censure with the SCOV.
SCOV notes that Vermont’s “attorney discipline rules provide that after thirty days after receiving notice that a Vermont licensed attorney was disciplined in another jurisdiction,” SCOV is supposed to impose the same discipline unless there’s a pretty good reason not to. So, SCOV sent Attorney Moyer a notice that he could file a response telling SCOV why it wouldn’t be fair to impose the same discipline and Attorney Moyer didn’t file a response.
Because SCOV finds “no basis in the record to conclude that the imposition of identical discipline in this State would be unwarranted, an order of public reprimand is hereby entered.” (Again, Google, this is an indication that this decision is fully intended for publication.)
And that, as they say, is that.
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