Jefferson City lawyer Noel Bisges can keep practicing law, but the state Supreme Court placed him on a one-year probation Tuesday, after suspending his law license but staying its own order.
The action comes three weeks after the seven-member high court heard arguments on state Chief Disciplinary Counsel Alan Pratzel's request Bisges be reprimanded "for his dishonest conduct in advising a client not to disclose a preferential loan payment to her mother in the client's bankruptcy case, which was the most serious instance of (Bisges') misconduct."
The state's request for discipline followed Bisges' "public censure" in August 2015 by the U.S. District Court for Western Missouri. That action came after a federal bankruptcy court in February 2011 reopened a client's case and determined the client owned horses not disclosed in bankruptcy schedules.
However, the main complaint was Bisges, in Pratzel's words, "knowingly and intentionally advised his client not to disclose a potential preferential transfer of $3,000 to the client's mother just prior to filing her bankruptcy petition."
Those actions violated the state court's ethics rules for attorneys, Pratzel argued in a 22-page brief.
The Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel (OCDC) said Bisges' violations included his engaging "in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation," and he knowingly made a false statement to the federal bankruptcy court.
Bisges' attorney, Matthew G. Koehler, of St. Louis, said his client disagreed with Pratzel's determination of "multiple offenses."
"The District Court's discipline panel recommended discipline of (Bisges) only for the improper email" about the payment to her mother, he said.
That email told Bisges' bankruptcy client to "make sure (the payment) cannot be traced. & stick with the story. it did not happen."
However, Koehler added, Bisges admitted to the Bankruptcy Court his statement in the email was improper and should not have been sent and has apologized to the federal court and to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Bisges accepted the recommended reprimand, Koehler wrote in his 19-page brief.
The terms of Bisges' probation includes a requirement he file quarterly reports with the OCDC on the status of his law practice and his compliance with the conditions of probation.
The conditions also include the warning: "Failure to comply with any of the conditions of probation shall constitute a probation violation; further discipline may include additional probation, suspension, or disbarment."