► Attorney Stephen Harris of Topeka, KS; ethical gremlin, repeater Print
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Attorney Stephen Harris of Topeka, KS; ethical gremlin, repeat offender

 
The state of Kansas presented Stephen D. Harris with a law license in 1993.
 
The Kansas Disciplinary Board found David guilty of the following misconduct.
  1. Failed to provide competent representation (moron)
  2. Failed to act with due diligence (slacker)
  3. Failed to properly explain matters to permit client to make informed decisions
  4. Failed to comply with proper discovery request
  5. Failed to cooperate with disciplinary investigation (Up Yours, said Stephen!)
  6. Engaged in conduct involving fraud, dishonest, deceit or misrepresentation
  7. Failed to return unearned fee (thief)
  8. Failed to comply with court orders
  9. Misconduct involved multiple offenses
In one matter, Stephen was hired to quickly file a bankruptcy case for a client. The bankruptcy court rules required attorneys to file all bankruptcy petitions by electronic mail, to attend required training, pass the examination, and obtain a login name and password. Stephen received a court order to so act, but ignored it.
 
Subsequently, the client learned that Stephen was not able to file bankruptcy cases because he didn’t have a login name or password. At that time the client fired Stephen and demanded he refund the $800 advance fee he paid, but Stephen refused to do so even though he never filed a bankruptcy petition on his behalf.
 
In another matter, two clients hired Stephen to defend then against a lawsuit filed by Raynor Manufacturing Company seeking damages of $224,000. Three weeks after he filed an answer for his clients, plaintiff’s attorney filed requests for discovery. Stephen failed to respond to the discovery requests and never sought additional time to so act.
 
Plaintiff’s attorney then advised Stephen he needed to comply with the pending discovery requests and if he didn’t, he would file a motion for summary judgment. Stephen responded, “Do what you have to do.” A few weeks later, the attorney filed a motion for summary judgment that Stephen never responded to. The trial court then granted plaintiff’s motion which resulted in a judgment against Stephen’s clients of $224,000.
 
As one would suspect, this wasn’t Stephen’s 1st bite at the Attorney Misfit Apple Tree. He previously received a complimentary admonishment for engaging in a variety of misconduct.
 
As a consequence of his misconduct, the apologists for Attorney Misfits sitting on the Kansas Supreme Court punished Stephen by gifting him with a complimentary 90-day suspension of his law license.
 
As we speak (ca. December 2012) Stephen practices with Affordable Legal Services in Topeka, Kansas.