Court reinstates attorney who had affair with client

ST. LOUIS, MO — The Missouri Supreme Court has reinstated the license of a St. Louis divorce attorney who was suspended in 2019 for violating a rule prohibiting lawyers from having sexual relations with clients.

The court reinstated the license of Stephen G. Bell on June 29.

The court suspended Bell, a solo attorney, for a period of at least six months in September 2019 after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.

The court found he’d violated a 2007 court rule prohibiting lawyers from having sexual relations with clients even if the relationship is consensual and there is no prejudice to the client.

According to the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel’s brief, Bell represented a woman in 2016 who was seeking a divorce from her husband, a doctor who was convicted of a felony related to his addiction to pain pills. During the course of the representation, they exchanged text messages, went out for drinks and kissed. Late one night, she visited Bell at his home, which culminated in her giving him oral sex.

After that, Bell said he realized that the relationship was inappropriate and tried to “resume a more formal posture,” but the woman felt rejected. She terminated Bell as her lawyer and filed an ethics complaint against him after a different lawyer completed her divorce proceedings.

At the time of his suspension, Bell had been licensed in Missouri since 1982 and had no prior disciplinary history.

The case is In re: Bell, SC98464.