Disciplinary board suspends Hampton attorney’s license

A Hampton lawyer who served as city attorney for several years had his license suspended last Friday for failing to pay taxes and other violations.
The Iowa Supreme Court Attorney Disciplinary Board suspended Michael J. Cross’ license for one year following an investigation into the lawyer’s financial accounts. The board found that Cross failed to file employee-payroll-withholding-tax declarations from 2009 through 2011 and also failed to file state and federal taxes on time during that same period.
The board’s decision stemmed from a 2012 audit that discovered several discrepancies in Cross’ financial account management practices in addition to the tax violations.
“Cross completely lost control and accountability for client funds deposited in his trust account,” court documents stated. “[Cross] generally treated all the funds in the accounts as his funds to do with as he chose without regard to whether his fees had been earned or not and without notifying clients of withdraws.”
Cross testified that the violations occurred after his practice experienced a period of financial difficulty. His secretary took a leave of absence following a car accident, and he also claimed there were problems with his accounting software. However, the board did not consider the excuses sufficient to justify the mismanagement.
“It is a practitioner’s duty to maintain the records required regardless of the specific media on which the records are kept,” the report stated.
Cross’ license will be suspended for one year following the March 20 filing. He will have to prove he has not practiced law during the period of suspension and must notify all clients of the board’s decision. Additionally, Cross must enter into a repayment plan with taxing authorities and prove he is current with payments when he applies for reinstatement.
Cross has practiced law in Iowa since 1973. He served as Hampton’s city attorney for several years before resigning in December 2013. Cross did not return phone calls seeking comment for this article.
The board's complete ruling can be found here.