Plymouth Mtg. Lawyer Disbarred After 'Ethical Misconduct': Court

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA — A former Montgomery County lawyer has been disbarred in Pennsylvania after practicing law without being licensed in the state and engaging in other "ethical misconduct," the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ruled last week.

Glenn DeSantis, 57, of Plymouth Meeting, who remains licensed in New Jersey, was originally suspended in both states back in Oct. 1996, according to court documents. That was due to a conviction of mail fraud.

He was reinstated to practice law in New Jersey by 1998, but was never reinstated in Pennsylvania.

Despite this, in March 2015, a Pennsylvania resident contracted DeSantis' Moorestown, New Jersey-based firm, Metzler and DeSantis, to represent him, court documents state.

The man was planning on buying real estate in Lansdowne, Delaware County. DeSantis took on the case, even though his partner Laurent Metzler was licensed in Pennsylvania and DeSantis was not.

The man wound up paying DeSantis $1,250 in advance for his services, and also gave him $30,000 to hold in escrow as details of the sale were finalized, authorities said. However, the sale was not completed, and instead of returning the full $30,000, DeSantis kept $1,618 for himself as expenses, which had not been agreed upon, court documents state.

DeSantis also never told the client he wasn't licensed, failed to respond to complaints from the client, and did not show up for multiple hearings, authorities said. All of these incidents were noted in the state Supreme Court's decision to disbar him.

The disbarment will go into effect on Dec. 15.