Summary: A former Fargo attorney previously disbarred in Minnesota has now been disbarred in North Dakota.
Attorney Jesse David Matson was already disbarred from Minnesota and suspended for 6 months and 1 day in North Dakota. The former Fargo attorney had his North Dakota license suspended in 2015 but he has now been disbarred for good from the state.
The North Dakota Supreme Court ruled to disbar Matson after he abandoned clients that had already paid him to represent them. Matson used to represent clients in family law matters. One client paid $4,000 but was left hanging by Matson. Another client paid him the $3,000 he asked for. Matson returned to that client and asked for another $1,000, which he received, but failed to represent the client.
Matson never returned any of the payments that he received without doing work for, according to the court’s findings. They ordered him to pay $7,000 in restitution to former clients as well.
The Minnesota Supreme Court disbarred Matson after finding he “engaged in a pattern of neglect and abandonment” between 2013 and 2015. The incidents involved seven clients in Minnesota and three in North Dakota. Their document stated, “Disbarment is the appropriate discipline for an attorney who misappropriated client funds, made false statements to clients, fabricated a document, neglected and abandoned numerous clients, failed to abide by court rules, filed a frivolous motion, failed to place clients funds in a trust, failed to return unearned fees, used improper fee agreements, failed to cooperate with the investigation of several disciplinary complaints, and was suspended by the North Dakota Supreme Court. Disbarred.”
The Minnesota court found that he met several of the above guidelines including failing to cooperate with six disciplinary investigations.
Matson claimed he was suffering from mental health problems like severe depression and PTSD as an excuse for not being able to function appropriately. He was admitted to practice law in Minnesota in 2008 and North Dakota in 2011.
One of his former clients, Amanda Robinette, told Valley News Live, “We all want to go after Jesse Matson and how awful his practice was. There still needs to be an accountability at a higher level to catch this before it gets to this point where so many people do fall victim.” Do you think there is anything that can be done to keep attorneys in line? Should judges be responsible for policing attorneys? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
To learn more about disbarred attorneys, read these articles:
- Disbarred Michigan Attorney James Jonca Arrested for Keeping Clients’ Settlement Checks
- Lawyer Disbarred for Killing Girlfriend’s Dog
- New York Attorney Steven B. Cottler Disbarred
Photo: twitter.com