Moeves v. Kentucky Bar Ass'n

380 S.W.3d 536, 2012 WL 3636942, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 126
CourtKentucky Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 23, 2012
DocketNo. 2012-SC-000302-KB
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 380 S.W.3d 536 (Moeves v. Kentucky Bar Ass'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Kentucky Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moeves v. Kentucky Bar Ass'n, 380 S.W.3d 536, 2012 WL 3636942, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 126 (Ky. 2012).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

Patrick Edward Moeves moves to withdraw his membership from the Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) under terms of permanent disbarment pursuant to Supreme Court Rule (SCR) 3.480(3). Moeves has previously been suspended for unethical conduct and is again facing several charges of unprofessional and unethical behavior. The KBA has no objection to Moeves’s motion to withdraw under terms of permanent disbarment. Given Moeves’s disciplinary history and the charges pending, we find Moeves should be permanently disbarred and grant his motion to withdraw under terms of permanent disbarment. Moeves, whose KBA number is 86081 and whose last known bar roster address is 1717 Dixie Highway, Suite 340, Ft. Wright, Kentucky 41011, was admitted to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky on October 13, 1995.

Disciplinary History

On September 16, 2008, the Supreme Court of Ohio entered an order prohibiting Moeves from practicing law in Ohio for two years for violating seven provisions of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct. Cincinnati Bar Ass’n v. Mullaney, 119 Ohio St.3d 412, 894 N.E.2d 1210 (2008). On October 1, 2009, this Court imposed reciprocal discipline and suspended Moeves from practice for one year, stayed for two years on the condition that he receive no further charges within two years of the Order. Kentucky Bar Association v. Patrick Edward Moeves, 297 S.W.3d 552 (Ky.2009). However, prior to the conclusion of the two-year stay, the Inquiry Commission brought two charges against Moeves: (1) a seven-count charge on July 1, 2010 in KBA file 18033, and (2) a nine-count charge on September 30, 2010 in KBA file 18113. These two charges violated the terms of Moeves’s conditional discipline and on March 24, 2011, this Court suspended Moeves from the practice for one year pursuant to the 2009 Order. Kentucky Bar Association v. Moeves, 336 S.W.3d 90 (Ky.2011).

At that same time, the Court also temporarily suspended Moeves pursuant to SCR 3.165(í )(a) and (b) upon finding probable cause that Moeves has misappropriated or otherwise been improperly dealing with funds held for others and his conduct posed a substantial threat of harm to his clients or to the public. Id. The probable [537]*537cause was based on Moeves’s conduct in KBA files 18113, 18033, and 19254, which are further discussed below.

KBA File 18113

In September 2007, Ronda Baird hired Moeves and his law partner to represent her on federal criminal charges in Alabama and to investigate whether her accountant was embezzling money from her business. Moeves told Baird he had a forensic accountant review her business accounts and, as she had suspected, her accountant had embezzled large sums from her business, though Moeves never provided her with a report from the forensic expert. Moeves told Baird he spoke with either a judge or someone in the Mexican consulate and believed the embezzled funds were in Mexico. Baird paid Moeves for private investigators and financed numerous trips he took to Mexico allegedly to recover the money. Baird never received any reports from the supposed private investigators. On one such trip, Moeves contacted Baird and instructed her to wire $10,000.00 to “Troy Ashcroft,” a man Moeves said was related to the embezzling accountant. Moeves explained that Ashcroft would be arrested as soon as he cashed the wire transfer. Troy Ashcroft, D.O. lives in Dry Ridge, Kentucky, and is Moeves’s personal physician.

After Moeves made several unproductive trips to Mexico, Baird decided to accompany him but was hindered by the fact that she surrendered her passport during the federal investigation. Moeves informed Baird he was a friend of a United States Senator and for $20,000.00 the Senator would arrange for Baird to receive a new passport. Baird sent the funds but never received a passport and when she

called the Senator’s office, the Senator’s secretary told Baird the Senator had never heard of either Moeves or Baird. When Baird confronted Moeves, he assured her that he would get a letter from the Senator regarding her passport. Baird never received the letter or a new passport.

Over time, Moeves’s communication with Baird became increasingly infrequent and when she contacted Moeves’s law partner to inquire about the status of her embezzlement case, the law partner informed her that he had no knowledge of the embezzlement matter. When Moeves’s law firm dissolved in March 2009, Moeves ceased representing Baird in her federal criminal matter.

Soon thereafter Baird confronted Moeves about the undocumented expenses and excess funds she paid him, in return for which he had done little or no work, and he agreed to refund the monies. Moeves refunded to Baird $123,363.00 and promised an additional $315,000.00, though it is unclear whether this amount has been repaid. In late 2009, Baird hired an Alabama attorney to bring a civil suit against Moeves for theft and on October 19, 2009, she filed a Bar complaint against Moeves.

On September 29, 2010, the KBA issued a nine-count charge against Moeves, alleging he violated SCR 3.130(1.4)(a) (keep client reasonably informed); SCR 3.130(1.4)(b) (explain matter so client may make informed decision); SCR 3.130(1.5)(a) (charge a reasonable fee);1 SCR 3.130(1.15)(a) (hold client property separate);2 SCR 3.130(1.15)(b) (notify of receipt and deliver to client or third party funds in which client or third party has an [538]*538interest);3 SCR 3.130(1.16)(d) (take steps to protect client interest upon termination);4 SCR 3.130(8.3)(a) (violate the Rules of Professional Conduct);5 SCR 3.130(8.3)(c) and SCR 3.130(8.4)(c) (engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation);6 and SCR 3.130(8.3)(d) (state or imply ability to improperly influence government official).7 Moeves admits his conduct during his representation of Baird violated the Rules of Professional Conduct.

KBA File 18033

In September, 2008, the same Ronda Baird called Moeves and his law partner to request their assistance on behalf of her employee, Rodolfo Contreras-Leos, who was arrested for possession of a forged driver’s license. Despite not being licensed to practice law in Alabama, Moeves (1) contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Montgomery, Alabama, as well as local agents from the United' States Department of Labor, a former agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the local prosecutor’s office in Alabama to discuss the case; (2) negotiated with the prosecutor’s office for the return of the contents of Contreras-Leos’s vehicle, which may have implicated Baird; and (3) flew with his partner and Baird to Alabama and met with Contreras-Leos in his jail cell for several hours to discuss his case.

After that meeting, Baird, Moeves and his partner went to the bank, where Baird paid Moeves $10,000.00 in cash and $12,000.00 by cashier’s check to represent Contreras-Leos. There was no written or oral agreement for this representation and none of the funds were placed in Moeves’s escrow account. Moeves and his partner did not obtain pro hac vice

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
380 S.W.3d 536, 2012 WL 3636942, 2012 Ky. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moeves-v-kentucky-bar-assn-ky-2012.