Lawyer accused of misconduct has license suspended for year

A Sikeston, Mo., lawyer accused of professional misconduct had her law license suspended Tuesday.

In June, the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, which investigates and prosecutes ethical breaches by lawyers, accused Lisa Dawn Coatney of making false or reckless statements of fact concerning the integrity of two judges, making two false statements of "fact to two tribunals with the intent to disrupt court proceedings," and making statements of intimidation.

The Missouri Supreme Court suspended her license for a year.

Coatney was accused of making false and incomplete representations with the intent to obtain annual enrollment fee waivers from the Missouri Bar.

"[T]he reason that I am forced to ask for a waiver is because I cannot work and am forced to receive welfare and food stamps while I await my disability hearing. I hope to return to work within the next 5 years. ... Please consider me for your waiver. I do not have the money to pay the dues," Coatney wrote in a letter to the Missouri Supreme Court in June.

Coatney could not be reached, and her lawyer, John J. Allan, declined to comment.

Coatney claimed, as Allan asserts in a response to the accusations, that a car accident led to a hospitalization and surgery for a cervical fusion, at which time she contracted methicillin-resistant staphylococcus, a bacterial infection highly resistant to some antibiotics. Complications and pain have dogged her ever since, she said, leaving her "incapacitated."

It was later discovered, according to a briefing filed with the court, that the attorney had "entered an appearance and/or made a legal filing on behalf of many clients on about 117 occasions in 46 cases between February 26, 2009 and January 29, 2010 in a wide variety of litigation cases ... in the circuit and associate circuit courts of Southeast Missouri."

The false and reckless statements allegations pertain to Coatney's alleged comments on a website forum regarding the integrity of Associate Circuit Judge Joe Satterfield of Stoddard County.

On Nov. 14, 2009, Coatney is said to have posted:

"I have proof that satterfield knew a girl had a valid prescription for hydrocodone and when she refused to testify for the prosecution he tripled her cash bond and signed the warrant for possession of hydrocodone. ... I have had three cases in which I proved my guys didn't do what was accused and he wouldn't drop charges until day of the trial, that is false imprisonment and there is going to be a multimillion-dollar class action suit filed within the next couple months, tell me your stories, you may have a claim."

Allan argued Coatney's statements were "in fact true, not reckless or false." Her statements, Allan asserted in his response, are protected on the First Amendment. Coatney's alleged comment that Satterfield will "sign anything and throw your butt in jail," should be protected under humorous speech, Allan argued.

Coatney also is accused of attacking the integrity of Cape Girardeau County Judge Gary Kamp, at one point stating in open court that "Gary Kamp was depriving her client's rights to a jury trial and he had a history of doing that."

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

Sikeston, MO