Clients complain to Disciplinary Counsel that Springfield counsel is not filing cases

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) – Maybe you’ve been there or know someone who is going through a divorce.

About half a dozen people in this situation tell On Your Side they can’t move forward because of their attorney. They have been waiting for months, and their cases are not disturbed. They hired attorney Cody Smith in Springfield.

“I don’t know what to do right now,” Desara Eastland said. She paid Smith $1,000 in April and was told she would soon be divorced. The case is not open. “It adds to the stress of what you’re going through. I am a travel agent, I want to renew my passport,” she said.

The same goes for Jarek Ellis. In August, he paid Smith $1,400 for an uncontested divorce.

“It was very unpleasant,” he said. “There are still stages like the house and the property, and we can’t separate that until we’re done.”

Then there’s Ryan Prince, who hired him a year ago to write a parenting plan.

“I kept reaching out and he said he was going to do something, but it never got done,” Prince said.

After unreturned emails and phone calls, Ashley Reynolds went to Cody Smith’s office on Sunshine Street. He was not there.

Eastland filed a complaint to in Office of the Chief Disciplinary Prosecutor. The agency investigates allegations of attorney misconduct that may result in suspension or disbarment from the practice of law.

In September, Smith responded to her complaint, saying: “I answered her, but maybe it was slower than usual. Around then I got into an accident when a truck hit me while I was sitting at a red light.”

“Was he in intensive care? Was he unclear? Because if you’re in an accident, you can still call,” Eastland said.

A spokesman for the Missouri Highway Patrol confirmed to On Your Side that they responded to a crash matching the description of Smith’s vehicle on June 28 and said no one was injured.

Smith’s response reads: “I’ve talked to a lot of other attorneys, and every single one of them has consistently said that when a client threatens to file a bar complaint against you, you leave their case and stop working for them.”

“I feel like I gave him a lot of chances to do the right thing,” Eastland said.

Eastland tells us her complaint is being investigated.

Ellis finally heard back from Smith on December 2, only after mentioning that he was contacting On Your Side. Smith responded in an email: “It’s a threat of libel.”

“Why didn’t it reach you?” Ashley Reynolds asked Ellis.

“I didn’t think he had anything to stand on,” he replied.

Ellis and his soon-to-be ex-wife have found a new attorney. He and Prince recently filed complaints with a disciplinary attorney and have yet to hear back.

Before hiring an attorney, check online reviews and testimonials. A good source is the Springfield Bar Association. Disciplinary sanctions of the Supreme Court are public information. So you can see if a lawyer has been suspended and why.

Schedule consultations with several attorneys so you can find the right one.

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