A recent disbarment summarized on the web page of the Missouri Supreme Court
This is an attorney discipline case involving Dale Wiley’s representation of a tenant, a debtor, a defendant and homeowners. The tenant retained Wiley to represent him in an unlawful detainer action. Wiley requested a jury trial but did not appear at a scheduled hearing, filed an untimely response to a motion for summary judgment (judgment on the court filings, without a trial), and sent another attorney to the summary judgment hearing, which resulted in an unfavorable judgment against the tenant. The debtor hired Wiley to represent her in a collection action filed against her. His failure to comply with discovery requests resulted in the circuit court entering a default judgment against the debtor. The defendant hired Wiley to defend him against child pornography charges. Without executing an engagement letter, Wiley had the defendant give him a $40,000 check. Wiley deposited most of the money into his operating account rather than his trust account, and within 20 days, it was spent on Wiley’s child support arrearage, Wiley’s other debts and another client’s bond. Wiley represented the homeowners in a foreclosure matter. He encouraged them not to attend the foreclosure sale, and the circuit court entered summary judgment against them. On appeal, Wiley failed to file a brief despite the homeowners filing an appeals bond and paying him fees. Following an evidentiary hearing, the disciplinary hearing panel found Wiley’s explanations were not credible and concluded he violated Rules 4-1.1 (competence), 4-1.3 (diligence), Rule 4-1.5 (safekeeping of property) and Rule 4-8.4(c) (misconduct). The panel recommended Wiley’s law license be suspended indefinitely with no leave to apply for reinstatement for at least one year. The chief disciplinary counsel accepted the panel’s recommendation; Wiley did not. The chief disciplinary counsel asks this Court to follow the recommendation; Wiley contends probation is appropriate.
The briefs are linked here and here.
Another perspective from Aurora Advertiser
Often, stories begin to unfold about Robert Wiley, a well known historian, storyteller and attorney, and his son, Dale Wiley, who has several of his father’s attributes—especially when it comes to being an attorney and paying close attention to people and their collective stories.
The younger Wiley describes himself as “a Missouri attorney who has had a character named after him on CSI, owned a record label, been interviewed by Bob Edwards on NPR’s Morning Edition and made motorcycles for Merle Haggard and John Paul DeJoria. He has three awesome kids and spends his days working as a lawyer fighting the big banks.”
New titles to add to that description include “successful author” with some movie and television deals on the table. In fact, following this week’s photo shoot, he boarded an airplane and headed west to Los Angeles to pursue more dreams.
Where does his story start? He grew up in a normal, middle-class family in the southwest Missouri Ozarks. Robert and Jeanelle Wiley had two children, Dale, and Elizabeth, who is four years younger. The Wileys stand for education, honesty, hard work and looking for the best in people. Those ideals have served them well. With family roots in nearby Hurley and the state of Georgia, the blend of Ozarkian and southern cultures have fostered a love for people, the spirit of hospitality and a zest for adventure and spontaneity.
After graduating from Crane High School in 1990, this small town Pirate went to college at Washington University in St. Louis. He took some time off and lived in Washington, D.C., doing research on what would eventually be one of his best-sellers, The Intern.
Wiley went to law school at the University of Georgia and finished the degree at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
He is quick to credit his small town roots for much of his success at having a diverse set of friends from all walks of life.
“My favorite part about growing up in Crane, in terms of how it still affects me now, was being able to have friends in all different spheres of life. I think a lot of people could do well by having that experience,” he states.
When Wiley is not fighting big banks or writing books, he might be off showing his children the world. Being a good father is top on his list of how he wants to be remembered. He and his ex-wife have three children: Mary, who is 14; Sara, who is 12; and Matt, who is 10. They live with their mother in Bartlesville, Oklahoma; but manage to spend lots of time with their dad.
All self-professed music buffs, they have seen a wide variety of performers and had their pictures taken with some of them.
“They have seen Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Carole King, James Taylor, The Who, Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, The Monkees, Cheap Trick and others. My oldest is a huge One Direction fan, so we’ve done that, too. They got to meet Merle Haggard, which still makes me happy, because he’s on my musical Mount Rushmore,” Wiley says with a grin.
Wiley always had a passion for writing and was known for his stories in school. Four years ago, he decided to make the time to write. He wrote a fictional thriller called Sabotage and received a few nods of interest from the publishing world. Not satisfied with the “nibbles,” he opted to take the leap and publish some things himself. He launched his efforts with a fictional book called The Intern. Current tallies indicate it has been downloaded more than 200,000 times.
“Then I put out Sabotage, and on its release day it went as high as number eight on the Apple Mysteries and Thrillers charts,” he explains.
He now has a publisher, an editor and a wide array of people who help streamline and support his efforts. His third book, Southern Gothic, is set to come out in January of 2017. The launch will include a nationwide push and a hardback edition, which is exciting for an author.
Now on the heels of some success, Wiley has been asked to flesh out some of his ideas for television. He says writing a script is “much easier” than writing novels.
Aside from being remembered by his children for being a “good dad” who took them on numerous adventures, Wiley has a few other items on his proverbial bucket list. These include spending some time in Spain, watching his beloved St. Louis Blues finally win the Stanley Cup, and taking a road trip from Los Angeles to New York City with his children in a red Cadillac.
His advice for other folks a little hesitant to follow their dreams is simple: “Keep doing it. Keep not listening.”
When he’s not traveling, promoting books or practicing law all over the state of Missouri, Wiley likes coming to the Sunset Drive-In in Aurora with his children. He also enjoys eating out at The Blackbird in Aurora. You might also catch a glimpse of him giving his longtime friend and fellow attorney, Scott Pettit, a hard time, at the offices of Pettit & Pettit in downtown Aurora.
Whatever the case, it’s a sure bet we haven’t heard the last of Dale Wiley.