Post by johnbuchmiller12 on Mar 18, 2016 3:20:16 GMT -5
Rising number of Minnesota lawyers punished for misconduct
Article by: ABBY SIMONS and JANE FRIEDMANN , Star Tribune
May 12, 2013
Article by: ABBY SIMONS and JANE FRIEDMANN , Star Tribune
May 12, 2013
One lawyer billed his client for the time they spent having sex. Another harbored a fugitive and lied to law enforcement, while a third raided a family trust she was paid to administer.
Twenty Minnesota attorneys have been disbarred, suspended, publicly reprimanded or placed on probation so far this year. So many lawyers have been disciplined by the Minnesota Supreme Court that the total for 2013 is likely to surpass last year’s 38 actions and could overtake the record of 55 lawyers sanctioned in 1990.
Last week, Minneapolis attorney Peter Nickitas was handed a 30-day suspension for a conflict of interest and intimidating an opposing lawyer, saying he hoped she’d “sleep with the fishes,” according to the state’s petition for discipline. Last month, Bemidji attorney Amber Ahola received a public reprimand and two years’ probation for briefly housing a client who absconded from a treatment program, then lying to the deputy who came looking for him.
In March, William J. Morris Jr. of Minneapolis was disbarred following his conviction for 12 felony counts for an online education scam that netted $3.5 million. Two months before that, attorney Thomas P. Lowe of Eagan was suspended for a minimum of 15 months for having a sexual relationship with a client he was representing in a divorce case, and including the time spent during their trysts in his billable hours.
Read more: star tribune
Bar-rat sticker, now that is the way to support courage to self police the bar, Bar.
Is this a glowing assessment of the 'Bar?'
Curious minds have the right-to-know.