TOD D. MEGIBOW V. KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
Annotate this Case
Download PDF
TO BE PUBLISHED
ixprrwr (gourf of ~rufu .~
2005-SC-000517-KB
TOD D . MEGIBOW
MOVANT
IN SUPREME COURT
V.
KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
RESPONDENT
OPINION AND ORDER
Tod D. Megibow moves this court to sanction him with a public reprimand
for violating SCR 3 .130-3 .4(c) and SCR 3.130-4 .1 . The Kentucky Bar Association
(KBA) agrees with the proposed sanction and requests that we grant Megibow's motion.
Movant's bar roster address is Megibow & Edwards, PSC, P.O. Box 1676,
Paducah, Kentucky 42002-1676 and his KBA member number is 47055 . He was
admitted to practice law on June 4, 1979.
In 2003, Curtis and Kathy Bailey engaged Movant to represent Mr. Bailey
in his post-dissolution of marriage action involving child support and maintenance
arrearage . In the course of the representation, Movant served subpoenas duces tecum
on the records custodians of two credit institutions, directing them to produce a
complete payment history for Mr. Bailey from 1999 forward . However, Movant failed to
serve copies of the subpoenas on Bailey's former wife, Paula Sue Bailey or the
Marshall County Attorney Child Support Office, a party to the action. He sought
compliance with the subpoenas by a date certain . However, the subpoenas did not
state a hearing date, nor were they issued in connection with a notice of deposition or
court proceeding .
The use of subpoenas to obtain documentary evidence or tangible things
without an accompanying notice of deposition or notice of hearing or trial has been a
recurring problem .' Evidently some practitioners are unaware that CR 45.01 prohibits
such use of subpoenas . As stated in the rule, "Subpoenas shall not be used for any
purpose except to command the attendance of the witness and production of
documentary or other tangible evidence at a deposition, hearing or trial ." It is improper
to use subpoenas in a manner contrary to the rule. We addressed a parallel issue in
Stengel v. KBA2 with respect to the use of Grand Jury subpoenas to obtain documents
from out-of-state firms . We amended RCr 5 .06 to permit the use of such subpoenas
provided the instrument was not misleading . Sten el does not modify or undermine CR
45.01 .
In this case, the records sought were Bailey's records and Movant was his
lawyer . It is perplexing why Movant did not simply obtain Bailey's authorization to
obtain the records from the credit institutions rather than use a subpoena. In any event,
Movant's use of a subpoena in a manner contrary to CR 45 .01 was wrong.
Movant admits that his actions violated SCR 3.130-3 .4(c) which prohibits
a lawyer from "knowingly or intentionally disobey[ing] an obligation under the rules of a
tribunal except for an open refusal based on an assumption that no valid obligation
exists." Movant concedes that his actions also violated SCR 3.130-4 .1 which provides
" Munroe v. KBA, 927 S.W .2d 839 (Ky. 1996) .
S .W.3d
(Ky.2005) .
that "in the course of representing a client, a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false
statement of material fact or law to a third person ."
We accept the disciplinary measures requested by Movant and agreed
upon by the KBA.
ACCORDINGLY, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED:
(1) Movant, Tod D . Megibow, shall be and is hereby Publicly
Reprimanded.
(2) Movant, Tod D . Megibow, shall complete, at his expense, three hours
of remedial ethics education, separate and apart from any other continuing legal
education (CLE) within one year of the date of this Order. The remedial ethics
education must be satisfied by Movant's personal attendance at live legal education
programs which must be approved in advance by the Kentucky Bar Association Office
of Bar Counsel . Movant shall not apply for or obtain CLE credit for his attendance at
these programs and is ordered to provide the CLE Commission with a release to allow
the Office of Bar Counsel to review his confidential CLE records and verify his
compliance.
(3) In accordance with SCR 3.450, Movant, Tod D . Megibow, is directed to
pay all costs associated with these disciplinary proceedings in the amount of $8 .38 for
which execution may issue from this court upon finality of this order.
All concur.
ENTERED : October 20, 2005 .
COUNSEL FOR MOVANT :
Tod D . Megibow
MEGIBOW & EDWARDS, PSC
P. O . Box 1676
Paducah, KY 42002-1676
COUNSEL FOR RESPONDENT :
Bruce K. Davis, Executive Director
Jay R . Garrett, Deputy Bar Counsel
Kentucky Bar Association
514 West Main Street
Frankfort, KY 40601
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
