State suspends Media attorney’s practice for one year
Media attorney Kevin Mark Wray has been suspended from practicing law for one year and one day under an order filed Thursday by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
A 23-page joint petition in support of the disciplinary actions filed by Wray and disciplinary counsel Dana M. Pirone earlier this week outlines seven admitted instances in which Wray violated the rules of professional conduct, including one charge of criminal contempt.
“The Disciplinary Board and the people I’ve been dealing with are very, very supportive,” said Wray Thursday. “After a great deal of talking to them, I’ve agreed to this resolution. They’re not saying, ‘You’re a terrible person,’ they’re saying, ‘You need to take some time off.’”
The contempt charge stems from Wray’s failure to appear at a jury trial before Berks County Judge Eleni Dimitriou Geishauser on March 29, 2016. Wray had previously moved to withdraw, but was denied.
He had informed the judge’s law clerk by telephone on March 28 that he had a conflict, but did not go into any detail, the petition says. He was instructed to file another motion and appear in court March 29, but he instead renewed his prior motion and did not appear for trial.
Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Barry Dozor called Geishauser March 29 to explain that Wray had been attached to begin a trial before him on the same day since Feb. 1.
The defendant was convicted March 30 without Wray’s representation. Wray appeared before Geishauser April 1 for a contempt hearing, where he was ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and costs within 30 days.
Wray, who has been licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania since 2004, appealed and requested an extension of time to file a brief in the matter to Sept. 26, 2016, but never made any filing by that date. The Superior Court ultimately dismissed the appeal. Wray never reported his conviction to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, according to the petition.
Wray said Thursday that the contempt matter stemmed from issues with the client, who would call him constantly and drove him into therapy. Wray indicated he is still pursuing an appeal in that matter and recently found an opinion from the judge that he claims “completely exonerates me.”
The other counts dealt with Wray agreeing to represent a client and failing to live up to his obligations. In one of these instances, he was appointed to represent a woman in a childendangerment case in November 2013. He requested a continuance of a hearing until Sept. 2, 2015, but failed to appear, according to the petition. The woman told the judge she had not been able to reach Wray and he was removed from the case.
Two other infractions occurred when Wray accepted payment from clients without receiving consent to handle the advance flat fee in a different way than that prescribed by the rules of professional conduct, which require deposit into a trust account.
In one of these, a $400 check Wray accepted as part of a conviction appeal. The check was accepted Dec. 12 and the appeal was dismissed in August 2013 for failure to file a brief. Wray had not discussed the appeal with the defendant since Dec. 12, according to the petition.
Wray similarly failed to receive consent on a fee he accepted from another client during an appeal. The defendant paid Wray $3,000 in installments by April 2015. The appeal was dismissed in May 2015 for failure to submit a brief, though the defendant did not learn about it until one year later during a meeting on May 26, 2016, according to the petition.
The petition says Wray showed the defendant a letter at that meeting dated April 2015, in which he offered to refund half the fee if the defendant did not want to pursue a pardon in lieu of appeal. The defendant indicated he had never seen the letter before.
Wray said Thursday that many of those issues stemmed from miscommunications with clients who believed he had agreed to perform certain services that he had not.
He was notified of his misconduct and failure to report his conviction by certified letter dated Nov. 7, 2016, but failed to respond, according to the petition. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel finally filed a petition for discipline in February and Wray filed a response admitting to the factual allegations that same month.
The petition lays out two aggravating factors, including Wray’s continued acceptance of $500 installments from one client after her appeal had been dismissed and an October 2016 informal admonition requiring him to refund unearned advance payments to two clients. The petition notes that Wray’s “belated cooperation” and the joint petition for suspension should be viewed as a mitigating factor.
Wray said Thursday that he is suffering from depression and anxiety, and hopes to address those issues during his year off.
“It’s a very difficult life being a criminal defense attorney and after taking a break from it I might return,” he said. “I’m going to try and fix whatever problems have been created by me.”