Please don’t do these [in some cases alleged] things:

• Calif.: “Judge accused of stealing elderly neighbor’s $1.6M life savings resigns from bench” [ABA Journal]
• Stan Chesley joins a rogue’s gallery of disgraced litigators [Paul Barrett/Business Week, earlier here, etc.]
• San Francisco’s Alioto firm: “Attorney and law firm must pay $67K …for ‘vexatious’ suit challenging airline merger” [ABA Journal, Andrew Longstreth/Reuters (Joseph Alioto: “badge of honor”), Ted Frank/PoL (sanctions are small change compared with enormous fees obtainable through merger challenges]
• N.J.: “Lawyer takes state plea, will pay $1M to widow’s estate” [ABA Journal]
• Texas: “State Rep. Reynolds charged with 7 others in barratry scheme” [SETR]
• “Paul Bergrin, ‘The Baddest Lawyer in the History of Jersey,’ Convicted at Last” [David Lat/Above the Law, earlier]
• “Attorney’s mug shot winds up next to his law firm’s ad, in marketing effort gone awry” [Martha Neil, ABA Journal]
• Once the American legal profession reformed itself, but that was long ago [John Steele Gordon]

Filed under: don't, judges, New Jersey, San Francisco, Texas, wills and trusts