Below find LawNewz.com’s daily roundup of attorneys, and judges who find themselves in legal trouble.
Update: NJ Lawyer accused of groping undercover cop found dead in apparent suicide
I told you about the NJ lawyer, Richard Schubach, who was busted for allegedly groping an undercover cop who was investigating reports that this attorney was routinely propositioning female clients for sex in exchange for services. Now the NJ.com reports that:
A borough attorney accused of offering to represent female clients at a reduced rate in exchange for sexual favors was found dead in his vehicle Tuesday morning from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest, the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed [ . . . ] Richard P. Schubach, 58, of Stockton was arrested and charged Monday with three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual contact after he allegedly propositioned a female undercover detective in a sting operation, according to a news release issued Monday. [Officers responding to a concerned caller] reported finding Schubach at 7:35 a.m. in his vehicle, which was parked outside an office complex adjacent to his law office. He was unresponsive with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to his chest.
A Mississippi county’s Jury Duty notice instructs potential Jurors to call a Sex Hotline
The Jackson County Clerk, Randy Carney, in office for exactly one month as of Monday is dealing with the blowback over a jury duty notice sent out by his office instructing prospective jurors to call a Sex Hotline number. “We’re very aware of it, unfortunately,” Carney said Monday morning when asked if he was aware of the issue. “We’re really not sure how it happened.”
H/T: GulfLive.com
Suspended lawyer, AG Kathleen Kane has asked a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against her office by “insubordinate” employees
The Kathleen Kane train wreck will remain in the news for a while as her legal woes, and those of the commonwealth and its Supreme Court are sorted out in various venues. Today, Pennlive.com is reporting on the lawsuit filed by agents of the AG’s office who claimed they were passed over for promotion or sustained other adverse job actions in connection with their refusal to testify before a Grand Jury. In briefs filed with the US District Court, the AG who is also now acting without an active law license asked the court to find that she has immunity from the civil actions filed by members of her staff.
Cassandra Stubbs, the Innocence Project Lawyer sanctioned by the NC Bar and publicly admonished has now won a reversal of the sanction and exoneration by the Bar Committee
The North Carolina Bar Committee that publicly sanctioned innocence project attorney Cassandra Stubbs has issued an an Order reversing its findings and sanction and exonerating attorney Stubbs. As followers of the early WRAL.com coverage will recall Ms. Stubbs responded emotionally to the unjust sanctioning of her and a colleague involved in collecting witness affidavits gathered to support a challenge to an unjust death sentence in a NC case. The decision to pursue ethics charges and the findings against attorney Stubbs was widely criticized in legal circles nationally.
H/T: Legal Profession Blog
Ex-Lawyer for the “DC Madam” claims sealed court record of client names might impact the current Presidential election | Seeks order to unseal the records
The website of the New Orleans Times-Picayune has the story about lawyer Blair Sibley who represented Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the s-called “DC Madam, who committed suicide in 2008. According to Sibley, records sealed by the court contain names which could impact the election of the next US president. Attorney Sibley who had his law license suspended throughout 2008 and who has been deemed a “vexatious litigator” filed a motion seeking the release of 800+ names listed by the late “Madam.” Sibley has also filed a judicial complaint against Chief Judge Richard Roberts of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claiming that Roberts instructed a clerk not to file an earlier motion to lift the order preventing attorney Sibley from making those records public.
Suburban Chicago Lawyer is defending himself in a murder for hire prosecution
The ABA Journal is reporting on the case of Robert Gold-Smith who after being booked on aggravated domestic violence charges of assault and battery upon his wife– is now being prosecuted for soliciting a contract hit on his wife from county jail. Gold-Smith is defending himself although he has not been licensed to practice law in Illinois since 2011.
The underlying domestic violence charges stem from a physical attack upon his wife in the hallway outside of a courtroom where she was seeking a domestic violence protective order.
There is more at the Joliet Patch
William Crosby is a LawNewz.com contributor. He used to run the BadLawyerNYC blog.
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