A disciplinary hearing panel assembled by the Missouri Supreme Court is recommending Springfield defense attorney Dee Wampler be placed on professional probation following allegations of misconduct.

According to court documents, two different clients said they paid Wampler large advance fees but when they severed ties with Wampler, he initially refused to refund any of the money or provide a detailed accounting of the work he performed on the case.

That's because, as Wampler allegedly told the disciplinary hearing panel, he did not keep track of the hours he spent working on particular cases and "never has for 53 years."

It also wasn't until the last eight months that Wampler established a client trust account to hold money he had been paid but had not yet earned. Prior to that, he charged a nonrefundable flat fee that was treated as earned on receipt, according to the disciplinary panel's findings of fact.

Wampler's attorney in this matter, Kent Hyde, said the supreme court rules about trust accounts were not in place when Wampler started his law career more than 50 years ago, but Wampler has now changed to conform with the rules.

Hyde also emphasized that the allegations before the disciplinary panel did not deal with Wampler's ability to effectively represent his clients in the courtroom.

"He'll continue to represent clients and offer the professionalism and zeal that he has for the last 50 years," Hyde said.

In the first case that the disciplinary panel reviewed, a man paid Wampler $16,000 to represent him in a 2011 third-degree assault case (which Wampler allegedly said was a discount from his normal $20,000 fee).

Court documents say that instead of depositing the money into a client trust account, Wampler put the money in his general operating account.

Court documents say about a year later, the client had a disagreement with Wampler on case strategy so he decided to hire a different attorney and asked Wampler for a refund of whatever Wampler had not earned out of that $16,000 with his hours spent on the case.

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According to the disciplinary counsel's findings of fact, Wampler told the man all of the money had been used up despite the fact the case had been delayed and the man had not even been arraigned yet.

The client later sued, and an agreement was reached where the law firm paid him $7,500, according to the findings of fact.

In the second case, a man's mother paid Wampler $20,000 in April 2014 for Wampler to represent the man in an effort to repeal his sex abuse conviction.

Again, the money went into Wampler's general operating account and he did not keep track of the hours he spent working on the case, according to the findings of fact.

After the conviction was upheld, the man's mother asked Wampler's office for receipts but Wampler did not provide copies as requested, according to the findings of fact.

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Court documents say that during a disciplinary hearing in March, Wampler acknowledged that his policy of treating fees as nonrefundable was incorrect.

The disciplinary counsel found that Wampler was guilty of professional misconduct by depositing fees into his operating account before they were earned, not maintaining a client trust account and not providing an accounting of the work he performed.

The disciplinary panel recommended that Wampler be placed on professional probation for three years and be required to complete continuing legal education courses.

Wampler's case is now before the Supreme Court of Missouri which can decide whether to adopt the disciplinary panel's recommendation or do something else.

Court documents say Wampler has been admonished three previous times since 2008, twice for violating conflict of interest rules and once for unreasonable fees.

Court documents say Wampler now allows clients to pay for his services at an hourly rate of $400 an hour. Hyde, Wampler's attorney, said Wampler also now keeps track of the hours he spends on cases or goes off of a fee schedule.

"He does a lot of work," Hyde said. "The fees, in essence, reflect that."