Disbarred attorney pleads guilty to taking retainer fees from fellow lawyer
The Greene County attorney who was voluntarily disbarred after she took retainer fees from a fellow lawyer pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges Friday and was immediately sentenced to probation.
Kimberly Simon-Pratt, 56, of Cumberland Township, pleaded guilty in Greene County Court to two counts of misappropriating funds and will serve four years on probation.
As part of her sentence imposed by Senior Judge Thomas Ling, she was ordered to reimburse the $22,213 from clients earmarked for attorney Jessica Phillips, which Simon-Pratt had already repaid before her plea. Simon-Pratt also voluntarily agreed in February to be disbarred for five years in order to accept the plea deal from prosecutors in which more serious felony charges were withdrawn.
Phillips, who worked for Simon-Pratt’s law firm in Waynesburg before leaving last March, told the Greene County district attorney office’s detectives that she was still owed retainer fees from 27 clients, which Simon-Pratt had taken. She also was accused of taking additional money that was supposed to be deposited in the state’s Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account.
“There are a lot of times where my job is not easy or pleasurable,” Greene County District Attorney David Russo said in a written statement. “In this case, I would say that it is not easy but sometimes necessary to prosecute fellow attorneys. I do not believe that Ms. Pratt is a menace to society, but the victim and her clients were hurt by Ms. Pratt’s actions. Not all victims have a visible injury, but some have their reputation and trust damaged.”
Phillips said she was happy with the plea and ready to move on from the situation.
“Though I take no joy in knowing how the consequences of Ms. Simon-Pratt’s actions will impact her life, I am pleased that my clients received the justice that they so deserved,” Phillips said in a written statement.
Simon-Pratt also had served as the full-time custody, dependency and juvenile hearing officer in the Greene County Courthouse since last April, but has been on leave since the charges were filed against her in late November. Her defense attorney, Chris Blackwell, said she resigned her position at the courthouse following her plea.
“It was just a sad situation where she got caught up in her own bills,” Blackwell said. “She was using the money to make payroll and to pay bills. And like a house of cards, it fell in on her.”
Ling also ordered Simon-Pratt to pay a $1,000 fine as part of her sentence. She also wrote a personal apology to Phillips, according to Blackwell.