Kansas Supreme Court disbars Wichita attorney for misusing employee, client money

June 02-- Jun. 2--A Wichita attorney who didn't deposit money into employee 401K accounts on time and paid herself fees from two client estates when she wasn't authorized to do so has been disbarred.

Pamela J. Thompson had asked to be disciplined by having her law license suspended for a year. But the Kansas Supreme Court in a decision released Friday said her "misconduct was too serious, and her initial efforts to avoid detection of it too plain, to persuade us that she should receive a lesser sanction."

A split Kansas Board for Discipline of Attorneys panel recommended Thompson be disbarred after it found in December that she had failed to safeguard client property, engaged in "conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice" and was dishonest, fraudulent or deceitful in violation of the Kansas Rules of Professional Conduct.

Thompson did not immediately return messages left at her law office Friday.

According to the disbarment ruling, Thompson failed to deposit salary deferrals from two employees' paychecks into 401K retirement accounts within the required seven-day time period -- instead taking months in most cases in 2016 and early 2017.

She told one employee whom she overheard talking to her financial adviser about the missing money: "don't involve him in this, you'll get me in trouble."

She threatened the other employee's job when the employee told Thompson that her husband -- an accountant -- wanted to talk to her about it, the ruling says.

To help catch up the shorted 401K accounts and pay other business expenses like payroll, Thompson wrote checks to herself from two estates under the guise of collecting attorneys fees. But she hadn't sought or received a court order allowing her to do so, which is required.

She took nearly half of one estate's value -- $30,365.85 -- over the course of a week, the disbarment ruling says.

From the other, she took $57,000, about 97.5% of its value.

Thompson blamed stress, depression and anxiety stemming from a number of family illnesses, conflicts with her employees and a friend's death for her actions, the ruling says. She argued for a brief suspension of her license because the misappropriated estate funds were repaid using borrowed money and she had no prior disciplinary record in 33 years of practicing law.

But her disciplinary panel recommended disbarment, saying she was motivated by dishonesty and selfishness, lied during the investigation and knowingly engaged in a pattern of misconduct that harmed clients.

Thompson specialized in estate planning, elder law, powers of attorney, adoption, probate and guardianship and conservatorships cases, according to her website. She's been practicing in Kansas since 1985.

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