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State justices suspend attorney who held gun during client meeting

By: Eric Heisig//July 30, 2014//

State justices suspend attorney who held gun during client meeting

By: Eric Heisig//July 30, 2014//

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A bankruptcy attorney who committed a series of bizarre acts of misconduct, including holding a gun during a meeting with clients, has been suspended for two years by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

David Moss practiced law in Wisconsin for about three years. He had an office in Galesville before moving to Oregon. His license has been suspended since 2012 for not complying with an Office of Lawyer Regulation investigation.

The OLR in September charged him with 35 counts of misconduct for allegations that included ignoring clients for months and not returning money four clients paid him for services they ultimately did not receive. The alleged misconduct occurred between 2011 and when he closed his office in 2012.

In one instance, according to the OLR, during a meeting with clients Moss had “a handgun in (his) lap and in his hand as he was sitting behind his desk.” Moss explained to the clients that “he was carrying the handgun for protection from people who were hounding him and from clients who stalked him and harassed him,” according to the complaint.

According to the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s per curiam decision released Wednesday, Moss never responded to the disciplinary case and mailed in his State Bar membership card to serve as his resignation.

A referee recommended a nine-month suspension, but the court more than doubled that in its decision, saying nine months was an “insufficient sanction.”

According to the opinion: “Although Attorney Moss had a license to practice law in Wisconsin for only slightly more than three years before his license was suspended, during that short timeframe he engaged in repeated misconduct where he took fees from clients, failed to perform the work for which he was retained, failed to communicate with the clients regarding the status of their matters, and failed to return fees and client files upon request. The incident in which Attorney Moss was brandishing a handgun during a client meeting is disturbing.”

The court ordered Moss to pay $3,950 in restitution and $1,123.44 to the OLR for the cost of the proceeding.

Moss graduated from the Seattle University School of Law in 2002 and obtained his Wisconsin law license in July 2009. He now lives in Poulsbo, Wash., according to Wisconsin State Bar records.

He did not immediately return a message left Wednesday.

If Moss wants to practice law again in Wisconsin, he will have to petition the state Supreme Court to reinstate his license.

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