Overlawyered » legal discipline

“Proposed plan would keep lawyer misconduct secret”

Walter Olson — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 16:04:53 +0000

“Under the proposed rule change [at the Iowa Supreme Court], lawyers suspended for stealing from clients, drug and alcohol problems, and neglecting important cases could hide what they did and resume practice without clients ever knowing what ethical violations they committed.” [Des Moines Register, more]

Tags: Iowa, legal discipline

Offering to trade legal services for sexual favors

Walter Olson — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 05:06:12 +0000

Over dissents from two justices, the New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to disbar an attorney who made “repeated, demeaning and offensive suggestions to his clients” in “an effort to barter his professional services for sexual favors.” The punishment instead: suspension for a year and required sensitivity training. Solangel Maldonado at Concurring Opinions thinks the court was too lenient, arguing that an employer charged with similar conduct toward an employee would have faced extensive liability under sexual harassment law.

Tags: harassment law, legal discipline, New Jersey

U.K.: “Lawyers quit litigation against alleged file-sharers”

Walter Olson — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 14:04:44 +0000

From Computing (UK):

Law firm Tilly Bailey & Irvine (TBI) has stopped the bulk mailing of legal threats on behalf of rights holders to people accused of illegal file-sharing.

The move follows a campaign by consumer charity Which?, claiming the practice is unfair. It effectively reduces the number of UK law firms involved in bulk litigation against alleged file-sharers to one: London-based ACS Law Solicitors.

It makes a contrast with the situation in the U.S., where there seems to be no shortage of law firms eager to represent RIAA and other rights holders in mass litigation campaigns against consumers. Which? dubbed the mass demand letters “speculative invoices” and called them to bar regulators’ attention as a potential ethical violation.

Tags: legal discipline, RIAA and file sharing, United Kingdom

“Client Had ‘Disposable Income and a Zealous Interest in Litigating’”

Walter Olson — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:06:36 +0000

And a train wreck results, after a Massachusetts lawyer “allowed the client to dictate a misguided strategy involving excessive and improper discovery requests that did not materially advance the client’s cases but did generate large hourly-based fees for the respondent.” [Legal Profession Blog]

Tags: discovery, legal discipline, Massachusetts

May 26 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:03:10 +0000

U.K.: Disciplinary complaints against lawyers may be thrown open to public and press [Times Online]
U.S. Chamber adds three new stories to its “Faces of Lawsuit Abuse” series, among them the 7-year-old sued over a ski accident, and the family-owned California restaurant sued for putting a mirror two inches too high. [Chamber mag, Yankee Philip]
Real estate agent couple: producers of CSI show defamed us in pre-final script [Los Angeles Times]
Idea of “suburban general store” walkable from homes would require zoning law fix in many localities [Metropolis]
Gov. Schwarzenegger these days is scourge of violent entertainment, at least when in videogame form [Elizabeth Jacobson, OpenMarket]
Critique of federal hate crimes bill [Gail Heriot for the Federalist Society]
Many prosecutors resist potentially exculpatory DNA test matches [NYT, Greenfield, Balko/Reason "Hit and Run"]
Blogger “Evil HR Lady” is unmasked! (and names some of her favorite health blogs) [linking to Blogs.com]

Tags: hate crimes, legal discipline, movies film and videos, on other blogs, prosecution, United Kingdom, videogames

“Disbarred—but Not Barred from Work”

Walter Olson — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:09:58 +0000

Disbarment isn’t always as severe a punishment as it may sound; some states “allow disbarred or suspended attorneys to work as paralegals or law clerks handling legal research or drafting documents under the supervision of an attorney.” One rationale is to ease the path for reinstatement of a lawyer who reforms and lives down past misconduct, but the practice opens the door to evasion, as in a Colorado case in which the disbarred attorney ostensibly turned his law firm over to associates and then was hired by them: “The reality was that the disbarred attorney was still running the firm,” a regulatory official says. [ABA Journal, June 2007 but unnoted here until now]

Tags: Colorado, legal discipline

Nevada lawyer steals $400K from clients, draws five-year suspension

Walter Olson — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 05:08:07 +0000

Because actually disbarring him would just have been too mean, at least in the eyes of the Nevada Supreme Court. Douglas Crawford blamed depression and gambling addiction for his client thefts. [ABA Journal]

Tags: legal discipline, Nevada

Daily Roundup 2008-12-31

SSFC — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:25:14 +0000

Due to work and family commitments today and tomorrow, this may be my final post at Overlawyered. Walter Olson will be returning shortly.

Eight Los Angeles police officers may face suit from an unwilling Jamie Lynn Spears decoy. Why does the LAPD provide any officers at all to protect B-list celebrities?
What slippery slope? New Jersey Civil Rights Division finds discrimination in case of Methodist ministry which refused to rent a pavilion for civil union of two lesbians, but otherwise rented the pavilion for marriage without regard for sectarian concerns. Perhaps this makes sense if sexual orientation is protected under New Jersey civil rights law, but I’m pretty sure New Jersey still gets it wrong on the First Amendment;
Revolutionary breathrough in cellular anti-aging, or journalistic malpractice?
“But the majority voted not to disbar since they saw a distinction between an attempt to have sex with the minor and actually doing it.“ Like Eric Turkewitz, I’m astonished;
In building a law firm, perhaps Craigslist is not the best substitute for traditional recruiting practices;
Great news for British authors of Popeye fan fiction. American fans are still out of luck;
Talk show hosts whose entertainment relies on “zinging” stupid guests, with the support of an even more stupid audience, should never invite Christopher Hitchens to appear on their shows;
Thoughts on whether it’s deceptive, or just lame, to call a solo law practice “the Law Offices of John Smith” or “John Smith and Associates” from sole practitioner Scott Greenfield.

In the event that this is my final piece here, I’ve enjoyed my stint guest-blogging, and commend Walter on the hard work he’s done through the years to make this a great site, as well as to build an unusually good commenting audience. Happy new year!

Tags: copyright, First Amendment, legal discipline, same-sex marriage

Montgomery Blair Sibley update

Ted Frank — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:22:43 +0000

Not that it’s any surprise to anyone who’s been following these matters, but on Tuesday, Chief Justice Roberts finally got around to denying Overlawyered reader-favorite Montgomery Blair Sibley’s application for a stay of the order automatically suspending him from practice in the District of Columbia. While that stay application was pending, the D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility recommended in November that the suspension last three years, “with his reinstatement conditioned upon a showing of fitness to practice.” The D.C. Bar website still shows Sibley as an “active” member of the bar.

Tags: legal discipline, Montgomery Blair Sibley, Supreme Court, Washington D.C.

“How Long Should a Disciplinary Finding Haunt a Lawyer?”

Walter Olson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 04:05:44 +0000

Phrased thus (at Legal Ethics Forum) it seems like a rather loaded question, doesn’t it? Who’s supposed to come down in favor of haunting? (The controversy arises from the suit filed by Greenwich attorney Barbara Shea to force a Connecticut grievance committee to remove online records of disciplinary run-ins she had between 1997 and 2002). A contrasting way of posing the same question might be: how far should we go in letting lawyers curtail the public availability of embarrassing information about events that 1) really did happen; 2) were a matter of public record at the time; and 3) are of natural and legitimate interest to at least some clients?

I’m not sure I have an entirely satisfactory answer to that question, but I’m pretty confident that it’s an unsatisfactory approach for grievance committees to have to fear getting beaten up in court actions if they don’t strike the balance as leniently as lawyers might like. (Douglas S. Malin, “Trying To Make The Past Disappear”, Connecticut Law Tribune, Sept. 29; Elefant/Legal Blog Watch, Oct. 3).

P.S. Many interesting reader comments of which my favorite was this one from z0l0ft:

The year is 2020 –

Hey Honey, I was checking the internet and I found all this great information about a true pioneer of the fight against the corruption of our youth by the videogame industry. His name was Jack Thompson. I could find nothing negative about him, so he must have been great.

Tags: Connecticut, legal discipline

Overlawyered » legal discipline

“Proposed plan would keep lawyer misconduct secret”

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