York County attorney suspended for failing to disclose funds: Pa. Disciplinary Board

York County attorney Andrew Scott Ziegler has been suspended by Order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania for a period of one year and one day, after retaining funds from clients and failing to disclose that to his former employer.

According to the court order, Ziegler opened Zeigler Law Offices in May of 2016, and less than one year later, he prepared to join Mooney Law, operated by John Mooney. Prior to his employment, Mooney sent Zeigler an employment manual.

The manual stated, “employees MUST report to the employer prior to engaging in any second job, including self-employment,” and stated that failure to do so would result in a “dismissal” if Mooney believed the employee's actions would damage the overall reputation of Mooney and Associates.

On May 1, 2017, Ziegler abandoned Zeigler Law Offices and joined Mooney Law, court documents show.

During his tenure at Mooney Law, Zeigler provided some clients with two fee agreements, one pro bono fee agreement and an hourly flat fee agreement.

Zeigler expressed to Mooney Law that he was handling a case pro bono but would also execute an hourly flat fee agreement with the client and receive direct monetary payment from the pro bono client, without discussing the arrangement with his employer or remitting client fees received.

According to the complaint, Zeigler failed to deposit client funds into an Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts and lost $4,000. Zeigler also retained fees that he was obligated to pay to Mooney Law from 13 different clients, totaling over $30,000.

In order to resume practice, Ziegler is required to undergo a reinstatement proceeding pursuant to Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement 218 and be reinstated by the Supreme Court, according to Laura K. Mohney, Counsel to the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York County attorney suspended for failing to disclose funds: Pa. Disciplinary Board