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Judiciary

Missouri judge suspended for ‘grossly untimely performance of his duties’ while deflecting blame

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 5, 2025, 9:23 am CST

Updated: A Missouri judge has been suspended for a year without pay for taking years to issue some rulings while falsely telling judicial regulators and attorneys that he had delivered judgments to court clerks in unresolved cases.

The Missouri Supreme Court suspended Judge Joe Don McGaugh of Carroll County, Missouri, in a Feb. 28 opinion that ordered a higher suspension than the six months sought by the Missouri Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline.

The Missouri Independent and KTTN have coverage.

The state supreme court accepted the commission’s recommendation that McGaugh must submit to an independent mental health exam before the end of his suspension. The results will determine whether McGaugh enters a disability retirement or resumes work with continued monitoring of his treatment.

In some instances, McGaugh took as long as five to six years to issue rulings after taking cases under advisement.

“This is an egregious case of multiple instances in which a judge completely failed to timely perform his duties,” the Missouri Supreme Court said in an opinion by Judge Ginger K. Gooch.

McGaugh’s “performance issues extend well beyond his own grossly untimely performance of his duties,” Gooch said. “The uncontested allegations also establish he was untruthful with attorneys, parties and the commission on multiple occasions. He repeatedly failed to respond to court staff and, even worse, blamed court staff when he knew he failed to perform his judicial duties.”

In one instance, McGaugh told the commission that he had submitted a judgment to his law clerks and would follow up when he returns from the state fair the following week. The state supreme court noted that judicial duties are required to take precedence over personal activities.

The state supreme court identified 10 cases in which McGaugh dragged his feet on rulings. The delays “directly harmed multiple parties, among them some of Missouri’s most vulnerable citizens, including families and children; those facing financial difficulties; and those seeking orders of protection,” the state supreme court said.

In one case, an attorney told McGaugh that a divorce litigant’s mortgage was in default, and she could lose her home in foreclosure without a judgment. McGaugh took the case under advisement in September 2021 but did not rule until 2024.

McGaugh was even slower to rule in some of the other cases cited by the Missouri Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline.

In one instance, McGaugh took a motion to modify child custody and support under advisement in April 2018 but did not enter a judgment until April 2024. In another, he took two consolidated cases involving minor guardianship and child custody in May 2019 and issued a judgment in one of the cases in April 2024. The judgment in the other case was still pending at the time that the commission made its allegations.

McGaugh had admitted the allegations and offered to attend mental health counseling, as well as judge training. He had requested a suspension of only three months but later changed his request to no suspension or a suspension served under a disability retirement.

The Missouri Supreme Court said it had no authority to convert a suspension proceeding to a disability retirement, but the commission could conduct future disability proceedings.

Two dissenting judges said the state supreme court did not have constitutional authority to deviate from the six-month suspension recommended by the commission. If it was constitutionally permissible, one of the dissenters said, he would vote to remove McGaugh from office.

McGaugh was a former state lawmaker who began serving as a judge in 2017.

A clerk who answered an ABA Journal phone call to the state supreme court said McGaugh is no longer there. A contact number for McGaugh was not listed in the Missouri bar directory.

McGaugh did not immediately respond to an ABA Journal email sent to a court address provided by the commission.

Updated March 5 at 1:28 p.m. to report that Judge Joe Don McGaugh of Carroll County, Missouri, did not immediately respond to the ABA Journal’s email.

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Law Firms

‘Very strong performance’ reported for law firms in 2024, with revenue increasing 12.5%

By Debra Cassens Weiss

January 29, 2025, 11:59 am CST

Growth in billing rates contributed to a 12.5% increase in law firm revenue in 2024, up from 6% in 2023, according to a year-end survey by Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group.

The 2024 increase was topped only by a 14% increase in revenue reported in 2021.

“The law firm industry experienced very strong performance in 2024,” Wells Fargo reported in a media summary.

More than 130 firms, most of them among the nation’s 200 top-grossing firms, participated in the survey.

Other survey findings for 2024 included:

  • Standard billing rates increased 9.1%, up from an 8.3% increase in 2023.

  • Average profits per equity partner increased 16.9% as firms kept “tight control” over the size of equity partner ranks, which increased by only 0.3%.

  • Demand, measured by billable hours, increased 3.5% for the year, up from 0.7% in 2023.

  • Total expenses increased 9%, up from 6% in 2023. The number likely reflected higher associate bonuses and more year-end expense prepayments.

Firms among the Am Law 50, representing the nation’s 50 highest-grossing firms, did better than the rest. They had growth of 13.9% for revenue, 10% for billing rates, 3.9% for demand and 18.9% for profits per equity partner.

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Law Firms

Law firms had ‘very strong performance’ financially at 9-month point, new report says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

November 20, 2024, 12:22 pm CST

Law firm revenue in the first nine months of 2024 increased 12.8% from the same period last year, thanks mostly to increases in standard billing rates, according to a new report by Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group.

At this same point last year, revenue had increased 4.6%, according to the report. The year-over-year revenue growth of 12.8% in the first three quarters was eclipsed only by growth rates of 14.4% in 2021.

“For the first nine months of 2024,” the report says, “the law firm industry experienced very strong performance, improving upon the momentum seen at the six-month mark.”

Revenue growth was highest for Am Law 50 firms, which are ranked based on gross revenue. They had year-over-year revenue growth of 14.6% at the nine-month point, compared to growth of 9.3% for firms in the Am Law Second Fifty and 10.1% for firms in the Am Law Second Hundred.

The “primary contributor” to revenue growth is the increase in billing rates, according to the report. Standard billing rates increased 9% from the same period last year. The year-over-year increase was 10% for Am Law 50 firms and 7% for Am Law Second Fifty and Am Law Second Hundred firms.

Net income is also up, Wells Fargo says, although the bank cautions that percentage increases can be “unusually large” in interim reporting because of the seasonality of collections and cash basis reporting. Net income increased 22.2% in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period last year, while profits per equity partner increased 21.5%.

Law.com spoke with Owen Burman, a senior consultant for the Wells Fargo’s Legal Specialty Group, about the findings.

Financial growth is going so well that firms are “pinching themselves,” Burman said.

The report is based on information from more than 130 firms, including 70 Am Law 100 firms and 35 Am Law Second Hundred firms.

BISHOP, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management, in partnership with C5 Studios, announces a community engagement performance as part of its Artist-in-Residence program. On Saturday, Nov. 30, from 5-6:30 p.m., composer Daniel Walter will host a live performance at C5 Studios, 210 S Warren Street, Bishop, CA.

Daniel Walter, a Los Angeles based composer and musician, specializes in story-driven music for visual media. Walter will share his recent experience exploring the Alabama Hills, and other areas throughout the Bishop Field Office. Walter will perform his soundscape “Waterfall,” comprised of field recordings, improvised sound, and live music encapsulating his experiences at the Hills.

“We are excited to have our first musical Artist in Residence,” says Bishop Field Manager Sherri Lisius. “This program really showcases the diversity of art that can be inspired by public lands.”

This event is free and open to the public, providing art enthusiasts and community members with a chance to experience the Alabama Hills in a way they may have never imagined. Space is limited; for more information on the venue, please visit the C5 Studios website.

The BLM Artist-in-Residence program encourages artists, including photographers, sculptors, and musicians to use their observational skills in portraying a variety of cultural and natural resources through images, objects, and performances that bring others enjoyment and forge a deeper understanding of our nation’s public lands.

Those planning to visit the area can learn more by visiting the Bishop BLM Field Office page. For specific questions, contact the BLM Bishop Field Office at 760-872-5000 or BLM_CA_Web_BI@blm.gov.