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KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION MOVANT 

V. IN SUPREME COURT 

CHRISTOPHE G. STEWART RESPONDENT 

OPINION AND ORDER 

The Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association ("KBA") 

recommends that this Court publically reprimand Christophe G. Stewart for 

violating Supreme Court Rule ("SCR") 3.130-1.15 (safekeeping property) and 

3.130-8.1(b) (knowingly failing to respond to a lawful demand for information 

from an admissions or disciplinary authority). Finding a public reprimand to 

be the appropriate discipline for Stewart's misconduct, we grant the KBA's 

motion. Stewart, whose KBA member number is 67870 and whose last known 

bar roster address is Barrister's Hall, 1009 S. 4th Street, Louisville, Kentucky, 

40203, was admitted to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Kentucky 

on May 1, 1978. 

Stewart maintained an IOLTA escrow account with BB85T in Louisville, 

Kentucky. In November of 2012, BB86T notified the KBA that Stewart's escrow 

account was overdrawn by $544.11. The KBA sent a notice to Stewart on 

December 5, 2012, requesting more information concerning the overdrawn 
status of the account. A second notice was sent on January 28, 2013. Stewart 

failed to respond to both requests. 

The Inquiry Commission opened an investigative file on the matter. On 

April 25, 2013, a letter was sent to Stewart advising him that a disciplinary 

investigation had been initiated concerning the status of his escrow account, 

and demanding a response within twenty days. The letter further advised 

Stewart that knowingly failing to respond to a lawful request for information 

from a disciplinary authority constituted a violation of SCR 3.130-8.1. 

Receiving no response from Stewart, the Inquiry Commission sent a second 

letter on July 25, 2013. He did not respond. 

The Inquiry Commission issued a complaint against Stewart for the 

mishandling of escrow funds in possible violation of SCR 3.130-1.15 1and for 

his failure to respond to the Office of Bar Counsel's request for information in 

possible violation of SCR 3.130-8.1(b). 2A copy of the complaint was mailed to 

Stewart at the address listed on his bar registry on October 23, 2013. The 

SCR 3.130-1.15 provides, in pertinent part: "(a) A lawyer shall hold property of 

clients or third persons that is in a lawyer's possession in connection with a 

representation separate from the lawyer's own property. Funds shall be kept in a 

separate account maintained in the state where the lawyer's office is situated, or 

elsewhere with the consent of the client, third person, or both in the event of a claim 

by each to the property. The separate account referred to in the preceding sentence 

shall be maintained in a bank which has agreed to notify the Kentucky Bar 

Association in the event that any overdraft occurs in the account. Other property 

shall be identified as such and appropriately safeguarded. Complete records of such 

account funds and other property shall be kept by the lawyer and shall be preserved 

for a period of five years after termination of the representation." 

2SCR 3.130-8.1(b) provides: "(b) fail to disclose a fact necessary to correct a 

misapprehension known by the person to have arisen in the matter, or knowingly fail 

to respond to a lawful demand for information from an admissions or disciplinary 

authority, except that this Rule does not require disclosure of information otherwise 

protected by Rule 1.6." 

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letter was returned as undeliverable. A copy of the complaint was then 

provided to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office for service on November 27, 

2013, with the request for service received on December 2, 2013. The Sheriff's 

Office attempted service six separate times at Stewart's bar address and spoke 

with Stewart's office associate. Unable to effect service, the Sheriff's Office filed 

a return indicating that Stewart was "avoiding service." 

On January 23, 2014, Stewart was served with a copy of the Inquiry 

Commission complaint by way of service on the KBA Executive Director 

pursuant to SCR 3.175. The letter was forwarded to Stewart's bar address on 

that same day. Stewart did not respond, and the letter was returned as 

undelivered on March 5, 2014. The Executive Director received the unclaimed 

complaint on March 20, 2014. 

The Inquiry Commission issued a two-count charge against Stewart on 

May 9, 2014. The charge alleged that Stewart violated SCR 3.130-1.15 by 

failing to properly maintain his escrow account with BB&T. The second count 

of the charge alleged that Stewart violated SCR 3.130-8.1(b) by knowingly 

failing to respond to a lawful demand for information from a disciplinary 

authority. Over the course of one month, the Disciplinary Clerk and, later, the 

Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, made eight separate attempts to serve 

Stewart with the Inquiry Commission's charge. Each attempt was 

unsuccessful. Finally, the charge was served on the Executive Director, with 

an accompanying copy mailed to Stewart. The letter was returned as 

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undeliverable on August 19, 2014. Stewart failed to file an answer to the 

charge. 

The matter came before the Board of Governors ("Board") as a default 

case pursuant to SCR 3.210 3on September 19, 2014. The nineteen members 

of the Board present unanimously voted to find Stewart guilty of both counts 

contained in the charge. The Board considered Stewart's prior disciplinary 

history, mitigating factors, and the applicable law before voting on the 

appropriate sanction. Fourteen members of the Board voted to publicly 

reprimand Stewart. 4 

The Board now moves this Court to issue a public reprimand against 

Stewart for failing to properly maintain his escrow account and failing to 

respond to lawful requests for information from a disciplinary authority. 

We agree that a public reprimand is the appropriate sanction for Stewart's 

misconduct. An overdrawn IOLTA account certainly indicates mismanagement 

of client funds. In the past, this Court has disciplined an attorney for multiple 

overdrafts on client accounts, finding such conduct to constitute a violation of 

SCR 3.130-1.15. Kentucky Bar Association v. Matthews, 291 S.W.3d 236 (Ky. 

2009). We agree that by overdrawing his IOLTA account Stewart violated SCR 

3.130-1.15. 

3SCR 3.210(1) provides: "If no answer is filed after a Respondent is notified, the 

Inquiry Commission shall order the record, together with such investigative evidence 

as may have been obtained, to be submitted to the Board." 

4Four members of the Board voted for a thirty-day suspension, and one 

member voted for a private reprimand. 

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Perhaps in a certain context, an overdraft of 544.11 is nothing more 

than an easily-remedied blunder. However, Stewart failed to respond to three 

preliminary inquiries as to the status of the IOLTA account before formal 

disciplinary proceedings were initiated. He then failed to respond to two 

investigative file letters. Once a formal complaint was initiated, service on 

Stewart was unsuccessfully attempted eight times, including six attempts by 

the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and one attempt to forward the complaint 

from the Executive Director of the KBA. Numerous attempts to serve Stewart 

with the charge against him were similarly unsuccessful. This unfortunate 

series of events certainly constitutes a blatant violation of SCR 3.130-8.1(b). 

Given the severity of Stewart's apparent attempts to avoid service and the 

overdraft of his IOLTA account, a public reprimand is warranted. 

Therefore, it is hereby ORDERED, 

1. Christophe G. Stewart, KBA Member Number 67870, is publicly 

reprimanded for his violation of SCR 3.130-1.15 and SCR 3.130-8.1(b); 

2. In accordance with SCR 3.450, Stewart is directed to pay 324.34 in 

costs associated with these disciplinary proceedings, for which execution may 

issue from this Court upon finality of this Opinion and Order. 

All sitting. All concur. 

ENTERED: April 2, 2015. 

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