The State Bar Discipline

So, it turns out that the State Bar disciplines attorneys. How do I know that? Well, at the end of every State Bar Journal, the Pulitzer Prize caliber journal that the State Bar puts out, they list the discipline of attorneys. Now, it is a few months old, but at least it is there. It is helpful to learn a few things:

1. If you are charged with a violation, it helps to have an addiction. That will get you referred to the Lawyer Assistance Program. (Hey, I get that addiction is serious, but there seem to be a disproportionate number of attorneys who have addictions. It is so bad that they make us take a continuing education lass on substance abuse once every three years.) Really, I am not making fun of people with addictions.
2. If you screw with your trust account, you will get suspended. Case closed.

But, what else do we learn? Well, we learn that some poor sap was suspended for a year and that suspension was stayed (placed on hold) and then given two years probation. What could cause such a punishment? Misdemeanor assault. Apparently, the office manager at his place of business was an SOB. The SOB bumped the attorney. The attorney, who had already called the police because the SOB was making inappropriate phone calls to the attorney's house, punched the SOB. The SOB called police and the attorney was arrested. The attorney pled no contest.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but if someone is making harassing phone calls to my house and then pushes me, there is a good chance I am going to hit him. Hard. At least once, if not twice. It is called self defense. I guess if the guy looked like one of the douches on "The Real World: Brookyln" I may not him him. But almost anyone else is going to get hit. If said person does not want to get hit, do not push me, bump me, or make annoying calls to my house. Simple enough.

Contrast that with Mitch Roth. Who is Mitch Roth? Mitch Roth is an attorney. He was doing loan modifications and foreclosure defense. But instead of doing the deals straight up, like most attorneys, he set the client up in a "joint venture" where the client would deed over some percentage of the home to a company that was allegedly run by his wife. He filed a whole bunch of cases. He never did anything with any of the files. The State Bar has stepped in and "taken over" his 2,000 files. Of course, he has no public record of discipline now.

Um, WTF? The guy who abandons 2,000 clients still has a clean record and the guy who has a no contest plea gets publicly reamed and has his record permanently marked. Seriously, who committed the worse crime here? Who is the guy who did something really bad? Is it the puncher, who was defending himself? Or is it Mr. 2,000 cases who didn't pursue these cases? I mean, 2,000 cases? Really? That is absurd.

Memo to the fine folks who discipline attorneys: The punishment should fit the crime. Should the attorney have punched him? Maybe not. The proper response? A private reproval. However, the attorney who 2,000 cases should have been suspended immediately and disbarred shortly after that. Lets get back to protecting the public. After all, that is your stated purpose, right?