Pure Lunacy
A consent reprimand has been approved by the Arizona Presiding Disciplinary Judge
Generally speaking, Mr. York failed to diligently pursue a client’s civil matter, and when he later sued that client, he disclosed information protected by the attorney-client privilege and/or ER 1.6. In that litigation, he also submitted filings that were not authorized by court rules and was the subject of criticism by the superior court, including the following statements:
[Mr. York] has included what this Court believes to be confidential attorney-client information, which is unethical. The Court is further troubled by [Mr. York’s] insults and name-calling of his former client. The Court would not tolerate this from a pro per (or represented plaintiff), but it is unconscionable from an officer of the court. Unclear to this Court is why [Mr. York] finds disparagement of a former client necessary, helpful, or relevant. Moreover, it is arguably unethical.
In the suit
The “reply” also contains a recitation of events, legal strategies and communications occurring during the initial lawsuit and contains the following affirmative statements:
• “(Respondent) wonders if (Kaur) is delusional to the extent that she requires a guardian ad litem.”
• “(Kaur) tried to pressure (Respondent) into filing a federal lawsuit against her office condominium that was pure lunacy.”
• “(Kaur) had the idea that (Respondent) should continue without being paid”.
The Arizona Rules of Civil Procedure did not authorize the filing of a reply and Respondent did not otherwise obtain leave from the court to file it.
Respondent’s filings revealed confidential information not necessary to the case.
Sanction
The PDJ finds that the agreed upon sanction is adequate to achieve the recognized purposes of the attorney discipline system – particularly because Mr. York has no prior disciplinary history and because he will be required to serve a term of probation designed to address the underlying misconduct and prevent recurrence of similar conduct in the future.