Attorney Puffs, Client Records, Bar Suspends

In a rather shocking disciplinary action out of Ohio, an attorney has been indefinitely suspended for counseling a client in a rather peculiar way that he claims was mere puffery to bolster the client's confidence in his representation.

In short, it was found that he pretty much lied to his own client while bragging about playing games and obstructing discovery. He admitted as much, and more. And if you're wondering why he admitted all this, it's likely due to the fact that the client had made a secret audio recording of their deposition prep meeting, and making the extraordinarily damning admissions was the only way to keep the actual recording out of the record.

So What'd He Say?

The following statements the attorney made in that depo prep meeting were recited in the Ohio Supreme Court's opinion and are presented below without any further context because it's just not needed:

• "In this particular case, what I would do is, because we're fighting the bank, right, I would f*** with this person at this stage."
• "She sent me an interrogatory, request for production of documents, I completely ignored her ass for a few months. And I made her file a Motion to Compel, and then I called her and said, oh, yeah, I'll get them to you in two weeks. And then I completely ignored her ass again."
• "So we did a telephone conference with the Magistrate, and I was like, oh, Your Honor, if only I had known, you know. I said, you know, I moved my office * * *, and I didn't know that she was-she sent those things to the wrong address. But I'll get them out. And I said, you know, this wasn't necessary. So, I wanted to make her seem like an ass."
• "That's why I did her like I did her. Because I made that b**** fly into town. And they were calling me and shit. I was like, oh, I've been there. And I was in court, too."
• "So they're trying to get-you know, trying to play games, because I played a game with her about not giving them to her. So, you know, I told you everything. And obviously, you know, you don't want to discuss that I played a game with her, you know. But that's basically it."
• "Yeah. She isn't going to want no part of your ass. And this might take all day * * *[.] Yeah. Because looks, she's an arrogant b****, okay?"
• "Yeah. It might be eight hours. Because we gave them a ton of documents. Everything that you gave me, you know, is part of what she asked for, and it was stuff that helped. There's a lot of s*** out there, all, right? And we didn't send out any discovery. We don't need it. She might ask you, do you know that your attorney didn't send any discovery, do you know that you were supposed to be here on, whatever the-she had one or two dates. Did your attorney tell you that you were supposed to be present for those depositions? Yes."

Related Resources:

• Pornstars Need Lawyers, Too, but for What? (FindLaw's Strategist)
• Know When to Shut Up in Discipline Cases (FindLaw's Greedy Associates)
• Prosecutors: Do This, Not That (FindLaw's Strategist)