One attorney suspended, another disbarred

Earlier this month, one Clayton attorney was suspended and another Columbia attorney was disbarred by default.

Both Richard Blong Dempsey Jr. and Molly Metza were found to have failed to communicate and act with diligence on behalf of a client, among other charges.

Dempsey received a default suspension for three years from the Missouri Supreme Court en banc on July 7. The court found him to have failed in competent representation, updating the client on matters, complying with requests for information and ensuring a client could make informed legal decisions.

Dempsey’s attorney, David T. Butsch of Butsch Roberts & Associates in Clayton, declined to comment other than to say that Dempsey decided to stop practicing law and is not contesting the charges.

Dempsey ran a solo practice in Clayton where he practiced for the last 20 years. He earned his law degree from Saint Louis University in 1995. He handled family law, criminal law, municipal law and other civil cases in St. Louis, Jefferson County, St. Charles County and Franklin County, where his father practiced law for 50 years.

Metza was disbarred by default on July 5. Metza has operated Metza Law in Columbia since January 2021. She was suspended on May 10 for not paying annual enrollment fees. She did not have an attorney and was not able to be reached for comment.

The Missouri Supreme Court en banc found that she committed dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation. She also obstructed or lied during a disciplinary matter. The court found her to have taken a client that violated the professional rules of misconduct or another law.

Metza also failed to lawfully separate a divorce client’s funds from her own account. As of August 25, 2021, her trust account had 6 cents. In September, she transferred $2,500 personal funds into a client trust account and wrote checks of $2,500 and $1,000 to two people. She was suspended that same month but was reinstated in October. She failed to refund 17 clients, according to an investigation of her trust account. She failed to maintain and preserve client trust account records for at least six years after termination of representation or the date of the last receipt of funds.

Before working in Missouri as a family law attorney, Metza was an assistant state attorney for Florida’s 20^th Judicial Circuit and a federal clerk in the U.S. Attorney’s Jacksonville, Florida office.

Metza earned her law degree from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2010.

The cases are In Re: Richard Blong Dempsey Jr., SC99594 and In Re: Molly Marie Metza, SC99618.

See also: DWIs, abandoned clients result in two attorneys disciplined