Judge Laurel Myerson Isicoff ordered William P. Smith, of the famous comment that the judge was "a few french fries short of a Happy Meal", to take an online course in professionalism administered by the Florida Bar. Smith could have had his pro hac vice license pulled, which would have been a big blow to his practice. In addition, he is going to do pro bono work and has agreed to step down as the head of McDermott Will & Emery's bankruptcy practice.
Did this thing get a wee bit overblown? Thoughts?
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Judging from the transcript, Smith's entire conduct during the original hearing was bizarre. He spent two transcript pages cross-examining the Judge about an order she'd already entered -- never a good way to influence the tribunal in your client's favor.
ReplyDeleteBeldar thinks the episode cost Smith hundreds of thousands and his firm millions of dollars: Update: the chairman of the big firm flew down to tell the judge that his french-fry-flinging partner was no longer chair of the bankruptcy group, the judge confirmed that the comments were unacceptable but let him keep his pro hac admission in exchange for 200 hours of pro bono and some CLE. Written apologies of himself and his firm attached. Beldar thinks the fiasco cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, and his firm more than a million: http://beldar.blogs.com/beldarblog/2007/06/nifong-disbarre.html
Oops.
hi, the blog is nice and its good for Smith to take over the task...
ReplyDeletecheers,
suma
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http://www.getlawyeradvice.com/
thats a good idea to maintain professionalism by Smith...
ReplyDeleteJames,
http://www.getlawyeradvice.com/