On Jan. 5 we linked a story about an Alabama lawyer who faces serious disciplinary action because he collected a $1.2 million fee for writing a will for a dying man without in fact meeting the man; after the controversy had arisen, voters elevated him to the bench. Now, in North Carolina, authorities are wondering what to do about Judge James Ethridge, “stripped [by the state bar] of his law license in October after deciding he had swindled an ailing, older woman of her home and life savings while he was a lawyer in 2001. …Without a law license, Ethridge is barred from holding court and signing orders. But he is not barred from keeping the job,” in which he has presided over criminal and family cases arising in Johnston, Harnett and Lee counties. “The predicament is getting expensive. …The state may be forced to pay Ethridge’s annual salary of $101,376 until his term as judge ends in December 2008” and in the mean time taxpayers are shelling out for substitute judges to hear the cases. (Mandy Locke, “Disbarred judge can’t hold court but holds onto pay”, Raleigh News & Observer, Jan. 9).

Update: Per Dr. Mary Johnson in comments, Ethridge has resigned.

Filed under: Alabama, ethics, North Carolina