How in the world does this attorney get to keep his license to practice law after this blizzard of lies he tells the court?
Ethics panel says Perth Amboy attorney should be suspended for lying in contract forgery case
Very odd case. The bar complaint was filed by someone who was not a client of the disciplined attorney, nor a party in the lawsuit that gave rise to the complaint. Just some random blogger who seems to like digging through court files. Normally, I’d expect a complaint like that to be filed by an opposing attorney (we have an obligation to report suspected ethical violations by other attorneys) or by the Judge.
I guess the reason for the relatively light sanction is that the attorney was acting as a party in a lawsuit, rather than as an attorney, when he lied to the court. In my state, I think the punishment would have been considerably harsher. At least a year’s suspension, and a requirement to take an ethics class, possibly even pass the ethics portion of the bar exam again, prior to reinstatement. Possibly prosecution for perjury and disbarment.
plea bargained?
Apparently it’s his first offense, and he was the party, not the attorney; attorney discipline is primarily intended to keep the practice of law ethical.
Still, a very very light consequence. Amazingly so.
IANAL, but this certainly matches what I’ve seen while observing various legal shenanigans over the years. It seems an attorney needs to establish a pattern of egregious behavior, generally while acting as an attorney across multiple cases, before disbarment is seriously considered. Even then, it may be a temporary (though lengthy) thing, allowing a possibility for the disbarred attorney to reapply after some years.
The only permanent disbarment I can think of offhand involved an attorney found guilty of 27 violations, including “making false statements to tribunals, disparaging and humiliating litigants and other lawyers, and improperly practicing law outside of [the state in which he was licensed]”. The judge refereeing the proceedings and making the disbarment recommendation described his behavior as “cumulative misconduct, a repeated pattern of behavior relentlessly forced upon numerous unconnected individuals, a total lack of remorse or even slight acknowledgment of inappropriate conduct, and continued behavior consistent with the previous public reprimand”.
I’m sure our resident attorneys know of others, but that’s my reference point. Disbarment is a big stick, and it doesn’t get wielded lightly. That said, I agree that this guy should have gotten slapped down harder.
Same thing with revocation of health care workers’ licenses. About the only thing that will get a HCW’s license revoked on first offense is commission of a felony, especially one involving violence or drugs.
There was a woman physician in my area several years ago whose license was suspended after she killed her autistic daughter (her motive was “she had no quality of life”). It was later revoked when she was convicted of yet another offense that was described as “one requiring that her name be placed on the Sex Offender Registry”. :eek: I wonder what that was, because she’s been incarcerated all this time.