In Court Battery Merits Significant Suspension

In a case that has received our attention before, the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board filed a recommendation on December 8 that has rejected as unduly lenient a proposed 30 day suspension of a lawyer convicted of simple battery on opposing counsel in open court.

At a motion for an accounting of costs, attorney Greenberg called attorney Lewis a “jackass.” Lewis responded, “Your mother is a jackass.” The battery by Greenberg on Lewis followed and the board notes: “After extensive research for further guidance, we can find no other case in Louisiana where an attorney physically  assaulted opposing counsel in front of a judge during a court hearing.” The most comparable case was a lawyer who threatened opposing counsel with a firearm after a deposition: he got suspended for a year and a day.

The board here recommends the same sanction for Greenberg:

Having an officer of the court physically assaulting another during a hearing harkens back to the days of settling differences by duels, and therefore undermines our system of civilized justice. These facts cause Mr. Greenberg’s actions to be construed as a whole new category of misconduct within the jurisprudence, requiring a greater sanction to serve as an example for deterring this type of serious misconduct.

The board proposes a reprimand of Lewis for the vulgarity in open court. It also notes that Greenberg is a former district attorney in the parish where the incident took place  and “received considerable television coverage after he was arrested and led from the courthouse that day in handcuffs.” (Mike Frisch)