Lawyers USA Online » attorney misconduct http://lawyersusaonline.com Your Business Partner Fri, 17 May 2013 20:49:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Benchmarks: Internet salvoes may result in lawyer’s suspension  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/18/benchmarks-internet-salvoes-may-result-in-lawyers-suspension/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/18/benchmarks-internet-salvoes-may-result-in-lawyers-suspension/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:08:19 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=91928 A Georgia lawyer may soon have time off she didn’t plan for.

That’s because this morning the state high court rejected a mere reprimand as the sanction for her conceded misconduct in responding to a negative review posted by a former client on a consumer website.

The Georgia Supreme Court
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/18/benchmarks-internet-salvoes-may-result-in-lawyers-suspension/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Dumbbell-wielding defense attorney disbarred  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/07/benchmarks-dumbbell-wielding-defense-attorney-disbarred/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/07/benchmarks-dumbbell-wielding-defense-attorney-disbarred/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 15:41:43 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=91766 The Minnesota Supreme Court yesterday disbarred a former defense attorney who is currently serving a six-year sentence for dropping dumbbells on the head of a former client.

“[Brian L.] Pitera’s conviction for a felony-level crime of violence undermines the public’s confidence in the ability of attorneys to abide by the
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/07/benchmarks-dumbbell-wielding-defense-attorney-disbarred/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Court excuses attorney’s ‘polite’ talk with opposing party  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/06/benchmarks-court-excuses-attorneys-polite-talk-with-opposing-party/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/06/benchmarks-court-excuses-attorneys-polite-talk-with-opposing-party/#comments Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:08:34 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=91744 The Virginia Supreme Court has overturned a finding of misconduct against an attorney who took an emotional call from an opposing party in the midst of a medical malpractice case.

In 2010, the Virginia State Bar charged Fairfax attorney Heather E. Zaug with a violation of Rule 4.2 of the
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/03/06/benchmarks-court-excuses-attorneys-polite-talk-with-opposing-party/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Mass. lawyer chastised for smearing opposing counsel  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/28/benchmarks-mass-lawyer-chastised-for-smearing-opposing-counsel/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/28/benchmarks-mass-lawyer-chastised-for-smearing-opposing-counsel/#comments Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:57:37 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=91639 A federal court of appeals has upheld the admonishment of a Massachusetts lawyer whose “groundless” accusations of criminality and misconduct had opposing counsel literally crying on the stand.

The admonished lawyer is Joseph J. Coppola of Plymouth. Last February, U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns issued the sanction for Coppola’s
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/28/benchmarks-mass-lawyer-chastised-for-smearing-opposing-counsel/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Firm didn’t violate public policy by firing lawyer  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/14/benchmarks-firm-didnt-violate-public-policy-by-firing-lawyer/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/14/benchmarks-firm-didnt-violate-public-policy-by-firing-lawyer/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2013 15:20:02 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=91296 A Washington lawyer claims she lost her job because she objected to using perjured testimony to win a client’s lawsuit.

This month, a state court ruled that her former law firm could not be liable for wrongful discharge – even assuming the truth of her allegations.

The Washington Court of
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/14/benchmarks-firm-didnt-violate-public-policy-by-firing-lawyer/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Lawyer gets slap on wrist for public indecency  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/04/benchmarks-lawyer-gets-slap-on-wrist-for-public-indecency/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/04/benchmarks-lawyer-gets-slap-on-wrist-for-public-indecency/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2013 15:19:46 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=91091 You’d think that a lawyer who gets caught soliciting sex from a stranger in a public park should at the very least have to worry about having his license suspended.

But one state supreme court feels that a toothless admonishment is sufficient punishment for a lawyer who engages in public
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/02/04/benchmarks-lawyer-gets-slap-on-wrist-for-public-indecency/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Lawyer’s theatrics didn’t justify $4M cut in verdict  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/01/11/benchmarks-lawyers-theatrics-didnt-justify-4m-cut-in-verdict/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/01/11/benchmarks-lawyers-theatrics-didnt-justify-4m-cut-in-verdict/#comments Fri, 11 Jan 2013 15:43:44 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=90506 The Virginia Supreme Court has restored $4 million to a wrongful death verdict, deciding that the jury’s award could not be reduced simply because of the trial antics of the plaintiff’s lawyer.

On June 21, 2007, William Sprouse was driving a loaded concrete truck east on the Thomas Jefferson Parkway
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/01/11/benchmarks-lawyers-theatrics-didnt-justify-4m-cut-in-verdict/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: TCPA suit proceeds despite class counsel’s alleged chicanery  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/01/10/benchmarks-tcpa-suit-proceeds-despite-class-counsels-alleged-trickery/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/01/10/benchmarks-tcpa-suit-proceeds-despite-class-counsels-alleged-trickery/#comments Thu, 10 Jan 2013 16:46:41 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=90474 The 7th Circuit yesterday refused to toss a junk fax suit based on allegations that class counsel engaged in underhanded tactics in bringing the action.

“[W]hile we neither approve of nor condone the actions of Anderson & Wanca attorneys when investigating the claims in this suit, we nevertheless do not
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2013/01/10/benchmarks-tcpa-suit-proceeds-despite-class-counsels-alleged-trickery/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Lawyer suspended for ‘overzealous advocacy’  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2012/09/20/benchmarks-lawyer-suspended-for-overzealous-advocacy/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2012/09/20/benchmarks-lawyer-suspended-for-overzealous-advocacy/#comments Thu, 20 Sep 2012 14:33:43 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=87749 More is not always better. That point was driven home yesterday to a California lawyer who managed to bury three separate courts under mountains of paper in his bid to recover $600,000 he lost to a Ponzi scheme.

John O. Murrin III is not a happy guy. In 2004, the
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]]> http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2012/09/20/benchmarks-lawyer-suspended-for-overzealous-advocacy/feed/ 0 Benchmarks: Fla. lawyers suspended for ‘theft’ of client files  http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2012/09/07/benchmarks-fla-lawyers-suspended-for-theft-of-client-files/ http://lawyersusaonline.com/blog/2012/09/07/benchmarks-fla-lawyers-suspended-for-theft-of-client-files/#comments Fri, 07 Sep 2012 14:03:02 +0000 Pat Murphy http://lawyersusaonline.com/?p=87420 How many lawyers do you think have copied client files on the sly in anticipation of departing their firms for greener pastures? Too many to count, right?

Well, yesterday the Florida Supreme Court sent a shot across the bow of those attorneys who might be contemplating such chicanery.

The decision
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