Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License

[George K]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/24/nyregion/giuliani-law-license-suspended-trump.html

Rudolph W. Giuliani, a former top federal prosecutor, New York City mayor and lawyer to a president, now faces the possibility of disbarment after a New York court ruled on Thursday that he made “demonstrably false and misleading statements” while fighting the results of the 2020 election on behalf of Donald J. Trump.

The New York State appellate court temporarily suspended Mr. Giuliani’s law license on the recommendation of a disciplinary committee after finding he had sought to mislead judges, lawmakers and the public as he helped shepherd Mr. Trump’s legal challenge to the election results. For months, Mr. Giuliani had argued without merit that the vote had been rife with fraud and that voting machines had been rigged.

In its decision, the court said Mr. Giuliani’s actions represented an “immediate threat” to the public and that he had “directly inflamed” the tensions that led to the Capitol riot in January.

“The seriousness of respondent’s uncontroverted misconduct cannot be overstated. This country is being torn apart by continued attacks on the legitimacy of the 2020 election and of our current president, Joseph R. Biden,” the decision read.
Mr. Giuliani now faces disciplinary proceedings and can fight the suspension. But the court said in its decision that he would likely face “permanent sanctions” after the proceedings conclude. A final outcome could be months away but could include disbarment.

Mr. Giuliani’s lawyers, John Leventhal and Barry Kamins, said in a statement that they were disappointed that the panel had acted before holding a hearing on the allegations.

[Mik]

This is all very curious. An attorney's job is to represent the positions of his client. What a client believes and what is 'demonstrably false' is often not easily discernable.

[Horace]

@mik said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

This is all very curious. An attorney's job is to represent the positions of his client. What a client believes and what is 'demonstrably false' is often not easily discernable.

Maybe if we threw all Trump voters in jail for a week, we could begin to heal as a country from the Capitol Insurrection.

[George K]

@george-k said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

the panel had acted before holding a hearing

And this.

I'd be curious to see what the procedures are for such action. This is not to say that it was unjustified, only that I wonder if they followed protocol.

If not, I smell a lawsuit.

[Doctor Phibes]

@george-k said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

If not, I smell a lawsuit.

For Giuliani's sake, I hope he doesn't try and represent himself. He'll end up doing 20 to life.

[George K]

@doctor-phibes said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

I hope he doesn't try and represent himself.

I'm sure he won't sweat it.

[George K]

Turley:

Giuliani has been temporarily suspended from the practice of law. Despite my long criticism of his conduct, this case could present some interesting issues if he seeks an appeal. Our past criticism of Giuliani's conduct should not blind us from the inherent dangers in suspending lawyers for rejected legal theories. It is a difficult and precarious line to draw. What may be a novel theory to some can be viewed as deceptive or frivolous to others. Again, this is less about Giuliani as what standard should be applied in such cases.

......we have not seen such efforts to disbar other controversial lawyers like Marc Elias and others accused of lying in past public scandals. The question is the scope of permissible claims raised (and rejected) in court.

[xenon]

Maybe we should have trial by combat to determine if he keeps his license.

[Jolly]

It's political horseshit.

[Aqua Letifer]

@jolly said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

It's political horseshit.

The latter implies the former.

[Jolly]

Possibly.

[George K]

The Dersh:

“I taught legal ethics for, I don’t know, 35 years at Harvard Law school. I think of myself as a leading expert on legal ethics. I’ve never ever seen a case where a lawyer was essentially disbarred … without a hearing,” Dershowitz outlined. “I mean, the most basic concept of due process is you don’t deprive somebody of his living, of his freedom, of his ability to work without a hearing. And then the criteria under which they suspended his law license is so vague. It says in the course of representing a client, a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a third person. In other words, if he goes on your show, or he goes on my podcast, or he goes on Fox or anywhere else, and he makes a statement which turns out to be false, and he had reason to believe it was false, he could be disbarred. Do you know how many lawyers we’d have left if we applied that standard across the board? … We have case after case after case where prosecutors, defense attorneys, lawyers of every kind, have made statements … which turn out to be untrue, and they’re never disbarred. And certainly not without a hearing. And so, this is a first. … The atmosphere is such today that if you defended President Trump in any way, they’re out to get you. And they’re certainly out to get Rudy Giuliani.”

“The idea of holding lawyers to this standard of truth-telling when they’re on television is a whole new ballgame. It will chill free speech. It will chill advocacy,” he added.

[Jolly]

Yeah, but Trump...

[George K]

@george-k said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

It says in the course of representing a client, a lawyer shall not knowingly make a false statement of fact or law to a third person. In other words, if he goes on your show, or he goes on my podcast, or he goes on Fox or anywhere else, and he makes a statement which turns out to be false, and he had reason to believe it was false, he could be disbarred

Eric Swalwell's a lawyer, right? He said many things leading up to Impeachment I that were false.

[Jolly]

Yeah, but Trump...

[George K]

A felony conviction for falsifying evidence gets a lawyer a one-year suspension:

Ex-FBI lawyer agrees to one-year bar sanction after conviction

Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith has agreed to a one-year suspension of his attorney license in Washington, D.C., following his conviction in August 2020 on a felony false-statement charge arising from the internal review of the special counsel's Russia investigation, new bar records show.

Clinesmith and his lawyers at Lathrop GPM signed a negotiated discipline with the District of Columbia office of disciplinary counsel on June 11 that set out the proposed suspension.

[Doctor Phibes]

@george-k said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

A felony conviction for falsifying evidence gets a lawyer a one-year suspension:

Ex-FBI lawyer agrees to one-year bar sanction after conviction

Former FBI lawyer Kevin Clinesmith has agreed to a one-year suspension of his attorney license in Washington, D.C., following his conviction in August 2020 on a felony false-statement charge arising from the internal review of the special counsel's Russia investigation, new bar records show.

Clinesmith and his lawyers at Lathrop GPM signed a negotiated discipline with the District of Columbia office of disciplinary counsel on June 11 that set out the proposed suspension.

Presumably they were concerned about bringing the profession into repute.

[Jolly]

Nah, he screwed Trump, so lying to a court, ruining people's lives and sending an entire nation into turmoil is definitely worth a one year suspension, because Orange Man Bad.

[George K]

@jolly said in Court Suspends Giuliani’s Law License:

Nah, he screwed Trump, so lying to a court, ruining people's lives and sending an entire nation into turmoil is definitely worth a one year suspension, because Orange Man Bad.

There are places in this country where, rightly or not, a felon does not have the right to vote.

At least he can practice law.