HUTCHINSON -- A local defense attorney has been charged with misdemeanor battery after an altercation with a former client and, in a separate incident, ordered to stay out of a popular downtown bar and grill.

Attorney David Holmes was charged with battering William Cox, 37, after Cox went to Holmes’ law office on East 2^nd Feb. 8 to pay Holmes for legal representation.

Apparently a shoving match ensued. Police showed up and arrested Cox for investigation of misdemeanor battery and three counts of disorderly conduct. He later posted a $500 bond.

A few days later, Holmes was issued a Notice to Appear in municipal court, charging him with battering Cox.

Both men appeared in court Monday and entered not guilty pleas. Cox is due back in court March 3 for a pre-trial.

No date has been set for Holmes because both City Prosecutor Mike Robinson and Municipal Court Judge Tad Dower have recused themselves from hearing Holmes’ case.

Instead, Kingman attorney Matthew Ricke will serve as prosecutor and Pratt lawyer Rob Eisenhower will sit as judge in Holmes’ case. Holmes has indicated he does not want a pre-trial but wishes to go straight to trial, according to court personnel.

If Cox and the city cannot work out a plea agreement at his pre-trial, the two out-of-town attorneys will hear his case, as well.

And earlier this week, police were called to Carl’s Bar, 103 N. Main, where Holmes, his wife and two others had gone to eat.

Holmes was apparently unhappy with the hamburger he ordered, and took both pieces of bun turned them upside down and scraped the condiments on the table. He then allegedly used his hands to smear them around the table top.

Holmes left the restaurant but was later contacted at his office and advised by police if he ever entered the bar and grill again he could be arrested for criminal trespass.

The dispute with Cox began in May of last year after Holmes secured a “not guilty” verdict in a jury trial in which Cox was charged with four felonies, according to a civil case in Reno County District Court, in which Holmes sued Cox for $2,785 in legal fees.

Cox testified in the suit that Holmes said the charge for the jury trial would be an additional $800, but Cox was so pleased with the attorney’s services he offered to pay $1,000.

Cox began making $50 a month payment in July as both parties agreed, said Cox, But, “… despite testifying at trial he was always willing to take payments and would still be willing to take payments after defendant made his first payment, (Holmes) wrote defendant a letter demanding to be paid in full in 11 days or suit would be filed.,” according to a Journal Entry signed by Reno County Chief District Court Judge Patricia Macke Dick..

Court records say when Cox went to Holmes office to dispute the claim the meeting between the two was “contentious at best.” .

The bill was more than Cox had anticipated and included two days at trial billed at $1,575 per day. Cox said Holmes previously told him the cost for a day in trial would be $800-$1,000.

Cox said the trial only lasted one day and about three hours of the next day, while Holmes said it lasted two full days.

Moreover, according to the journal entry, Holmes said he received only one $50 payment, but Cox, according to the journal entry, produced two receipts for $50 payments..

After the first meeting between the two, Cox filed an ethical complaint against Holmes with the state Disciplinary Administrator’s Office, which handles complaints against lawyers licensed to practice in Kansas.

Holmes …”apparently told the disciplinary administrator that he estimated charges of $800 to $1,000 for a one-day jury trial,” according to the journal entry.

“The trial took two days which, according to (Holmes’) response to Stan Hazlett, the disciplinary administrator, should have cost around $1,600 to $2,000. However, defendant was charged $3,150 for a two-day trial, billing nine hours each day of the trial,” Macke Dick wrote.

In the suit, Cox testified the second day involved only 1- to 1-½ hours for testimony and closing arguments, and a return trip later in the day when the jury came back with the verdict.

Holmes, under questioning by Cox, said he was “on call” between the time the jury got the case and a verdict was rendered.

Cox testified the jury came back around 2 p.m; Holmes told the court it was more like 5:30 or 6 p.m., adding that it “ … was difficult to keep up with (Cox’s) lies because he was making it up as he goes,” according to the journal entry.

However, Macke Dick noted in the journal entry that the criminal case file “ … indicated the jury verdict form was filed at 1:17 p.m. on May 6, 2009, the second day of trial. Typically the form is filed by the court reporter after court is finished and the jurors have been dismissed. It certainly cannot be filed any earlier than that, rather the possibility for a slight delay in the filing is more likely.”

Mack-Dick then found that Holmes had told both Cox and the disciplinary administrator that the cost of a day in jury trial would be between $800 and $1,000, and that Holmes had spent a total of 10 hours in trial.

The judge ordered Cox to pay Holmes $1,285 -- the amount owed after Cox was given credit for previous payments -- less than half of the $2,785 that Holmes sought.

Cox went to the law office and paid the full amount in cash on Feb. 8. Cox said he asked for a receipt, but Holmes told him he wouldn’t get one, and that’s when the dispute broke out.

Neither Holmes nor Carl’s Bar ownership could be reached Wednesday evening, and neither returned phone messages seeking comment.