Ethically Challenged Attorneys

So there I was today sitting in section 209 at that monstrosity they call Yankee Stadium. Yes, I am a HUGE Yankees fan, but this stadium, it was not needed. So I am in the heat, sun beating down on me and thinking about something that blogger Chaz commented on in my post about Little Philip Oliveri. Chaz was right on the money when he said:

The DOE's 3020-a lawyers don't last very long prosecuting teachers. It is very hard to win when the evidence against the teacher is embellished, twisted, and perverted by the DOE administrators. The result is the DOE lawyer is reduced to character assassination and the Arbitrators roll their eyes. Eventually, the DOE lawyers either quit or are fired. It is a sleazy job that does not allow for long-term employment.

Well said, point taken.

So here I am at the game today thinking about this, and it occurs to be that lawyers have this thing called ethics. In fact they are spelled out very clearly and have just been revised by the New York State Bar Association. It seems to me that these lawyers that the DOE hires have a ethical responsibility to the law that precludes them from using testimony and witnesses that they know are lying. And lying also means stretching the truth.

So I researched and came across the New York State Bar Association Professional Standards for Attorneys and came across some interesting tidbits, or as one could say "ethics abnormalities."

So if we look at the Rules of Professional Conduct we come across rule 1.16 sec a and it reads:

"A lawyer shall not accept employment on behalf of a person if the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that such person wishes to bring legal action, conduct a defense, or assert a position in a matter or otherwise have steps taken for such person, merely for the purpose of harassing or maliciously injuring any person."

Think Little Philip and Sith Lord Marvin Pope are following this? No.

There is also rule 3.3 sec a paragraph 3;

"Offer of use evidence that the lawyer knows to be false......"

Again, Little Philip knows, so does Sith Lord Marvin Pope knows that the evidence they have against David Pakter is a crock of crap.

So there we have it. Little Philip in his desperation to live up to Daddy's ideals has sold himself out and become nothing more than a dine store floosy so he can have some career advancement and sold out his ethics so he can feel like a big man. Sith Lord Marvin Pope should go back to following ambulances. So what does one do about ethically challenged attorneys? One reports them? In my honest opinion there is enough to on both of these "attorneys" to file ethics complaints with the New York State Bar. Perhaps it is even time to turn the tables and file ethic complaints on any and all 3020a prosecuting attorneys. Wait, Joel Klein is an attorney is he not? Hmmmmm. I wonder..................

To make a complaint against an attorney:

New York and Bronx Counties:
Departmental Disciplinary Committee for the First Department
61 Broadway, 2nd Floor
New York, NY 10006
(212) 401-0800

Kings, Queens and Richmond Counties:
Grievance Committee for the Second and Eleventh Judicial Districts
Renaissance Plaza
335 Adams Street, Suite 2400
Brooklyn, NY 11201-3745
(718) 923-6300