When the Missouri Supreme Court recently declined to disbar an attorney accused of sexually assaulting his clients, it was not an anomaly. A Law360 investigation of attorney discipline records found that of more than 100 attorneys disciplined for having sexual contact with clients, the vast majority were allowed to keep their law licenses.
A split Missouri Supreme Court issued a one-year suspension to an 86-year-old attorney who had inappropriately touched six clients. Three dissenting judges would have disbarred him. St. Clair County attorney Dan K. Purdy made unwanted sexual advances toward four of his female clients while they were in Vernon County Jail, which was captured on video