Rule 5.25 - Voluntary Surrender - Consent To Disbarment Or Other Process(a) A lawyer may seek to surrender the lawyer's license to practice law in this state voluntarily by application to this Court. The application shall be accompanied by the license and shall set forth the basis for tendering the license, including any alleged ethical misconduct that is the subject of investigation or complaint under this Rule 5, whether or not formal disciplinary actions have been commenced. The application may also allege permanent disability to practice law. The lawyer shall admit or deny the ethical misconduct included in the application. The application for voluntary surrender shall be forwarded to the Chief Disciplinary Counsel for report and recommendation.
The report shall be served by the Chief Disciplinary Counsel on the applicant for surrender in the manner provided in Rule 5.125, and the applicant may file with the Chief Disciplinary Counsel, within 15 days of the mailing of the report, a written response thereto.
The report, recommendation, and response, if any, shall be filed by the Chief Disciplinary Counsel with this Court upon receipt of the response or the expiration of the time for making a response.
The Court shall make a determination to accept or reject the surrender on the basis of the application, report, recommendation, and response, if any. The Court may reject the application if the lawyer does not admit sufficient facts to warrant disbarment. If the Court accepts the surrender, the lawyer shall be disbarred.
(b) If the Court rejects the surrender, the Court may, without further process, suspend the lawyer's license and direct the Chief Disciplinary Counsel to proceed as otherwise provided in this Rule 5.(c) If the lawyer formally asserts, during a proceeding under Rule 5.25, that the lawyer is unable to competently represent the interests of clients by reason of physical or mental condition or because of addiction to drugs or intoxicants, such evidence shall be sufficient to meet the requirements for interim suspension under Rule 5.24(a) and (b) and this Court may, without further process, suspend the lawyer's license under Rule 5.24 and direct the Chief Disciplinary Counsel to proceed as otherwise provided in this Rule 5.Mo. R. Gov. Bar Jud. 5.25
Adopted June 20, 1995, eff. 1/1/1996; Amended October 25, 2011, effective 1/1/2012; Amended October 5, 2017, effective 10/5/2017; amended May 31, 2022, eff. 1/1/2023.