Here are the links to the "how not to practice law list" so far. As you can see, these are examples of incredible but true stories of conduct that is so basic you'd think anyone would know that what they are doing is improper. Nothing complicated here. In many of the cases, you can say the conduct is simply just plain stupid... The list would be funny, if it weren't for the fact that it is a serious problem that there are so many lawyers out there getting in trouble for these kinds of things.... Each item is a link to its own post/story.
have sex with client, then charge her for your services
help your boyfriend escape from prison, wait a couple of hours, then post a photo of the two of you on Facebook
on appeal, prepare a lousy brief that does not support your arguments
beat up your client with a baseball bat
steal money from clients, then "in your defense" argue you needed the money
bring your recreational drugs to court, then drop them in front of police officer
post photos of your client's undies on Facebook and make fun of your client and his family in the process
do everything wrong when leaving your firm
video: how not to conduct a hearing (follow up on that story, here)
if you are a judge, preside over the bond hearing of the person accused of a crime against you
if you are a judge, let your clerks decide your cases while you are on vacation
misrepresent your assets in a bankruptcy application (even though you are wearing them in public) (or hide your assets in a bankruptcy case)
don't pay taxes (particularly if you are a former IRS attorney and a tax lawyer)
don't take depositions seriously
if you are a judge, try to establish inappropriate personal relationship with attorney who appears before you
stop paying child support
use your client's money to pay gambling debts
pull a gun on a process server when he is trying to hand you some papers
lie during the disciplinary process to cover up your mistakes (more recently, here)
try to cheat on the bar exam
host a website with nudity and profanity and then go ahead and post statements that suggest you are a drug user
claim you forgot your client was your client in order to avoid correcting your client's perjured testimony during discovery
allow your client to be convicted even though he was in prison at the time of the crime
double bill the court
prepare a will for the client in which the client names you or your wife as the beneficiary
write incomprehensible complaints and briefs
slap the witness in the face during a deposition
bring drugs with you when you visit clients in prison
use client's money to shop at Walmart and then claim misconduct is due to "poor bookkeeping"
represent buyer and seller in a transaction, then represent one of them against the other after transaction is done
show the jury the evidence the judge had excluded
have your spouse lend money to client
don't pay attention to the details
inflate your bills
start to practice law before you are admitted to the bar
abuse your power as a prosecutor by offering leniency in exchange for sex with defendants or their mothers
don't pay your student loans
offer to help law students cheat
claim that everything is confidential
charge a fee for doing nothing
try to help your client by breaking the law
advertise you have "associates" when, in fact, you don't
tell the jury you think your client is guilty
pretend to be a doctor (more recently here)
try to influence the judge
show up drunk, (same problem, more recently here)
have sex with clients while visiting them in prison (a similar, more recent case here)
sell the defendant's property
be a pimp
charge $3,500 an hour AND be rude to the judge
plagiarize
break the law and obstruct justice
tell your divorce client's wife you want to go out with her
have sex with client's wife
continue to practice during your suspension (same problem, more recently here)
make sure you tell the jury the information the judge had excluded
pay your employees "under the table"
ask client to pay fees with drugs (same, more recent case here)
insult the judge (preferably in writing)
write a bad brief
don't ever read anything before publishing it in the press (if you are lucky it will have a racist statement in it)
if you make a mistake, lie to cover it up
pay your bar dues with a check from your client's account
convince clients to give you title of their house so they avoid foreclosure, then get them evicted
let the client dictate (bad) strategy
ask client to pay fees with sex
park in the handicapped parking spot
lie
get married when you are already married (same problem, more recently here and here)
show up to court drunk
have affair with married woman, then agree to represent her husband in divorce
when interviewing an applicant for a secretary position tell her that having sex with you is part of the job
try to recover expenses from your client after you agreed not to do it
provide the wrong citation to key cases so the judge goes nuts trying to find them
try to blackmail your opponents to get what you want
lie to the judge
take more work than you can handle
lie to the disciplinary committee
forge the judge's signature
ask for stolen property as payment for your services
rob a bank
be rude to the judge's clerk
don't proofread anything before you file it in court
No comments:
Post a Comment