BANGOR — The judge in a disciplinary hearing held in response to complaints against an Ellsworth attorney has found that no rules of professional conduct or bar rules were violated.

Five complaints against attorney Christopher Whalley were filed with the Maine Board of Overseers to the Bar and heard on April 24 and May 7 at the Penobscot County Judicial Center.

In his decision, Justice Warren Silver notes that it is important to recognize that Whalley has been the subject of disciplinary action in the past.

“The current complaints against him suggest that Whalley’s judgment may have been questionable in some respects, but the most concerning of the events in these matters occurred prior to the most recent disciplinary action in 2007,” Silver wrote.

In that disciplinary action, the court subjected Whalley to a series of conditions. Whalley has complied with those conditions and now has “better understanding of the rules and his obligation to adhere to them,” Silver said.

Sharon Closson and her daughters, Laurie Ward and Jessica Meyer, each filed separate complaints against Whalley, who represented them in a domestic partnership civil suit. The three women alleged Whalley failed to collect judgments awarded to them by the court and, later, failed to return their legal files when asked to do so.

During the hearings, Whalley testified that it made no financial sense to attempt to collect the judgments. Silver agreed with this assessment.

The women also claimed Whalley had misled them into thinking that he had filed a lien on a property owned by the defendant. Whalley testified that no lien was filed as part of his strategy in the matter.

However, Silver wrote that he could not think of any reason for pursuing this strategy. However, he noted that poor strategy is not a violation of the rules of professional conduct.

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