Lawyer Disbarred for Practicing Law From Jail
Here’s some free advice: if you’re in jail awaiting sentencing for a nightclub shooting, you should probably take a break from practicing law.
Otherwise, you might find yourself disbarred.
It happened in Oklahoma, where the state Supreme Court disbarred a lawyer who tried to continue his law practice while in the county jail. He had been convicted on charges related to a 2016 shooting outside an Oklahoma City nightclub.
“[The lawyer] was more interested in cash flow than client care,” the state supreme court said in issuing the disbarment order. According to the ABA Journal: The state supreme court said Silverman gave “new meaning to the term “jailhouse lawyer.”
Read about the case here and here.
Read the June 28 disciplinary opinion here.
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NC Rule of Professional Conduct 8.4 Misconduct
It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to:
(a) violate or attempt to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, knowingly assist or induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another;
(b) commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects;
(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s fitness as a lawyer;
(d) engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice;
(e) state or imply an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official;
(f) knowingly assist a judge or judicial officer in conduct that is a violation of applicable rules of judicial conduct or other law; or
(g) intentionally prejudice or damage his or her client during the course of the professional relationship, except as may be required by Rule 3.3.
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