Missouri Supreme Court to hear arguments in Cape attorney discipline case

The Missouri Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a discipline case involving Cape Girardeau attorney Dale Edward Gerecke and misappropriation of law-firm funds.

Gerecke acknowledged taking law-firm funds, which he later repaid, according to court documents.

Gerecke, who worked for the Bradshaw, Steele, Cochrane and Berens law firm in Cape Girardeau, has admitted he engaged “in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation,” according to the chief disciplinary counsel for Missouri’s court system.

Gerecke, who was experiencing financial difficulties, took $4,900 in client fees for his personal use over a two-year period ending in 2015, court documents show. That money was supposed to go to the law firm.

In December 2015, Gerecke left the firm to take a position as in-house counsel with Drury Southwest Inc.

He subsequently repaid the money, but only after his former law firm found accounting discrepancies and Gerecke admitted to taking the money, according to a court document.

A disciplinary-hearing panel heard the case April 27. The panel recommended Gerecke’s law license be suspended indefinitely with no leave to file for reinstatement for three years but the suspension be stayed and Gerecke be placed on probation for three years with specified terms and conditions.

The chief disciplinary counsel rejected the recommendation and asked the Supreme Court to suspend Gerecke’s law license for at least six months.

Gerecke has asked the court to stay any suspension and place him on probation.

“This case does not involve client misappropriation. Instead the misappropriation was from the law firm,” chief disciplinary counsel Alan Pratzel said in a court document.

“Nonetheless, this court has very clearly stated over the last two decades that lawyers have a duty to be honest with other lawyers in a firm, and the violation of that duty is a breach of the Rules of Professional Conduct,” according to Pratzel.

He said in a written argument that “dishonesty occurred, and that dishonesty warrants an actual suspension.”

But Gerecke’s attorney, Diane Howard, has argued he should be placed on probation.

In a written filing with the court, Howard wrote, “There are substantial mitigating factors in this case, including the respondent’s reputation, demeanor, remorse, cooperation, restitution and most significantly willingness to acknowledge his misconduct.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

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