Crime

Associate Indicted After Faking Court Orders

The allegations are 'inexplicable.'

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Counterfeit Authentic MagnifiedAndrew Gavin Wynne was indicted on five counts of identity theft for faking a variety of documents including court orders, judgments, and emails between February 2020 and June 2021.

Wynne was an associate at the Kirkwood, Missouri, law firm now known as Menees & Menees at the time he faked the documents. Partner Hardy Menees calls Wynne’s behavior “inexplicable,” and describes the motives as “perplexing.”

Wynne reportedly forged a variety of court orders over the 16 months:

In one case, Wynne allegedly faked a final divorce order that required the husband to pay $900 in child support, according to an ethics filing that is cited by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In another, Wynne allegedly created an order of contempt requiring the husband to pay $20,000 within 15 days and then half his income plus $2,500 every month.

Menees first learned of a problem July 1, when a client contacted him because she hadn’t signed a consent order filed in her case, according to an affidavit by Menees in the ethics case. His firm hired a private investigator.

Menees reported the issue to the Missouri disciplinary counsel and Wynne was suspended from the practice of law — on an interim basis — in October.

Though it was difficult, Menees says the firm has gotten to the bottom of Wynne’s actions, “It’s been an incredible ordeal to try and unravel it, but we have unraveled it.”

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Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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