CdA attorney Purviance disbarred five years

Coeur d’Alene attorney Larry Purviance has agreed not to practice law in Idaho for five years rather than face disciplinary proceedings tied to multiple charges of professional misconduct.

In nine separate cases since 2000, the Professional Conduct Board of the Idaho State Bar has reprimanded Purviance, who has represented plaintiffs in numerous cases alleging violations by Kootenai County law enforcement agencies.

Many of the cases reviewed by the Bar occurred in the past three years, according to a complaint filed last month.

Purviance maintains that recent charges of court filing delays and misplacement of money owed to clients are a result of theft by his personal secretary, Pamela Pringle, who was sentenced to six years in prison in June 2012, according to court documents.

Of the six counts against Purviance charged by Idaho State Bar counsel Bradley Andrews in the complaint, the Coeur d’Alene attorney said five were made in neither a “willful” nor “knowing” manner. Those charges included failure to file requested legal motions quickly, failure to notify clients of changes in their filings and siphoning trust fund money into personal accounts. Purviance blames most of these actions on theft of office equipment, files and money by Pringle.

An order signed by Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Burdick on Wednesday disbars Purviance effective Aug. 15. After five years, he will be eligible for reinstatement, if he agrees to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct. The agreement also removes Purviance from the admittance rolls of the Idaho Supreme Court.

A private practice attorney specializing in criminal defense, Purviance previously served as a deputy public defender. Purviance recently defended Shannon Duval, a Spokane Valley woman who in December pleaded guilty to felony injury of a child after her two children were found walking unattended along Interstate 90 near Post Falls.