Denver attorney Devon M. Barkley suspended him for misconduct in the bankruptcy case

A judge this week suspended a Denver attorney from practicing law in federal bankruptcy court in Colorado after finding that he lied, submitted false legal documents and engaged in a pattern of “fraudulent schemes” to try to have the case dismissed.

Devon M. Barclay has been banned from the sport at US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Colorado for three years. Bankruptcy Judge Thomas McNamara wrote in a harsh 46-page order released Tuesday that the attorney violated his professional duties and committed “flagrant attorney misconduct.”

The suspension came as a result of Barkley’s actions in one bankruptcy case in which he represented clients in 2021, according to the order.

“From beginning to end, Mr. Barclay’s representation of debtors was incompetent,” McNamara wrote. “Worse, he engaged in willful misconduct out of bad faith. … Instead of giving competent legal advice, Mr. Barclay engaged in a strange game in the bankruptcy process.”

Barkley told the Denver Post Wednesday that he believes the suspension is the result of a personal vendetta against him and in retaliation for an earlier investigation he said he conducted with a trustee in the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program. Oversees the management of bankruptcy cases.

“It is a shame that we have run out of resources to defend so many allegations,” he said, adding that he “never willingly tried to lie or mislead the court.”

Barkley declined to discuss any other specific allegations against him.

“It’s more motivated by a desire to silence me,” he said of the comment. “…that is really why the pleadings are as intense and wordy as they are.”

McNamara ruled that the ruling does not affect his general legal license or prevent him from working in the Colorado state courts, but that Barkley must alert state authorities of his suspension by January 24.

the states Organization law firmJessica Yates, a Colorado sanctioning attorney, said she had no public information to share about Barkley on Wednesday. On Wednesday, Barclay said the office was aware of the suspension.

The judge’s suspension order states that in the 2021 case, Barkley forged signatures, attempted to game the bankruptcy filing system, filed motions based on false assertions of fact and suggested his clients try to infect a competing attorney with COVID-19.

Barkley also tried to have the case dismissed on false grounds and promised to pay a third-party creditor if he helped with the scheme, according to the order. The creditor did not do so, instead alerting the authorities.

McNamara wrote: “Given the gravity of Mr. Barclay’s misconduct, there can be no doubt – and no doubt whatsoever – that very serious penalties should be imposed.” “After all, the wrongdoings were willful and committed in bad faith resulting in serious abuse of the bankruptcy process. The misconduct was…systematic and continuous, not a one-time kind of mistake.”