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Attorney Faces Suspension for Unethical Affair and Billing Scandal

A divorce lawyer has been indefinitely suspended from practicing law after having an affair with his client.

But that isn’t the worst part. He was also billing her for the time they were together conducting their affair!

Wow. That is a new low!

According to news accounts, the lawyer was representing a woman in a divorce case. He is married himself, and he had known this woman for many years.

He would bill her for legal services rendered while the two were engaged in meetings of a more personal nature.

When he sent his bill, he would refer to the time spent as “meeting” or “drafting a memo.” So he was also sending fraudulent bills on top of having an affair with a client – turning one big no-no into two big no-no’s!

Attorney Faces Disciplinary Action for Affair with Client

In Maryland, it has long been understood that a lawyer having an affair with a client is unethical.

One primary reason to hire an attorney is so that there is some individual who is removed from the case and can provide detached advice. You cannot do that if you are intimately involved with the client. You have lost any sense of perspective.

Sadly, some years ago an attorney tried to weasel out of his disciplinary hearings by claiming this wasn’t clearly the rule. The legal ethics police who govern Maryland lawyers had to clarify that yes, having an affair with a client is a conflict of interest, and therefore an ethical violation. That is true in any case – but it is worse in a divorce case.

In this case, of course, the sleazy lawyer was also lying on his bills and then sending the bills to the client, taking her money for the time they spent together!! I’ve known some arrogant attorneys, but this guy takes the cake!

If you are worried about him, don’t be. He can reapply to be a lawyer in 15 months.

Want to know more? Discover what you need to know about divorce in Maryland. Click here to see our Free Legal Consumer Guide to divorce cases in Maryland and get answers to your questions today. Click here to read our Free Legal Consumer Guide to Child Custody. Know your options. Be informed. Protect yourself.

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