Attorney Discipline, 0820 WYBJ, Vol. 43 No. 4. 59

PositionVol. 43 4 Pg. 59

Attorney Discipline

No. Vol. 43 No. 4 Pg. 59

Wyoming Bar Journal

August, 2020

Disbarment

The Wyoming Supreme Court issued an order disbarring Laramie lawyer Michael J. Pearce from the practice of law. Pearce, who is currently serving a one-year suspension of his law license for previous professional misconduct, failed to respond to a formal disciplinary charged filed by the Office of Bar Counsel of the Wyoming State Bar. The formal charge related to Pearce’s conduct in two matters. In one of those matters, Bar Counsel alleged that Pearce forged his clients’ signatures to a settlement agreement and committed other violations of the rules of professional conduct for attorneys in his handling of that case.

In the other, Pearce refused to cooperate with Bar Counsel’s investigation of a complaint filed by one of Pearce’s other clients. Pearce defaulted on responding to the formal charge and the matter went to a hearing before the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) to determine an appropriate sanction for Pearce’s conduct. During the hearing, Pearce admitted to forging his clients’ signatures and committing other misconduct. Following the hearing, the BPR recommended Pearce’s disbarment to the Wyoming Supreme Court. In its order approving the BPR’s recommendation and disbarring Pearce, the Court ordered Pearce to pay administrative fees in the amount of $1,500.00 and to reimburse the Wyoming State Bar for costs of the hearing.

Public Censures

The Wyoming Supreme Court issued a public censure to Casper lawyer Todd H. Hambrick. In 2019, Hambrick had two separate DUI arrests, one in Grand Teton National Park and the other in Casper. On both occasions, Hambrick had a breath alcohol content of more than twice the legal limit.

Following the Grand Teton National Park arrest, Hambrick undertook voluntary treatment with an addiction therapist. Hambrick later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation on the condition that he not use or possess alcohol or enter any establishment whose primary source of income derives from the sale of alcohol. Hambrick was ordered to continue treatment with his addiction therapist.

Less than one month after his sentencing, Hambrick had another DUI arrest in Casper, after which he voluntarily entered into a two-year monitoring agreement with Wyoming Professional Assistance Program to monitor his sobriety at his sole expense...

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