Another Mother

The Arizona Presiding Discipline Judge accepted a consent suspension of four years of an attorney who, among other things, falsely claimed that his mother had died in order to secure a trial continuance in a dissolution case.

Shortly before the October 2013 trial, the attorney told the court that he needed a continuance because his mother had died in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

She had – two years prior to the trial.

The false assertion came to light after opposing counsel raised issues concerning the attorney’s veracity.

The attorney then told some inconsistent stories to the trial court and the State Bar about a woman who he claimed had raised him.

These stories – about a woman born in Mexico and sold by her family into Amish servitude (“Inasmuch as I am not Amish, I am not permitted to visit her gravesite.”) – did not negate the findings that he had made material misrepresentations to the trial court.

The attorney engaged in other misconduct including false testimony in an unrelated bar investigation. (Mike Frisch)