Court Locks Disbarred Lawyer Out of His Own Office

After a history of progressive discipline over his aggressive litigation and courtroom tactics--which allegedly included, at one point, choking a 74-year-old judge after an adverse arbitration ruling, attorney Allen Feingold was disbarred last year.

But that allegedly hasn't stopped the former Pennsylvania lawyer from practicing until at least June of this year. So, in a court order described as "highly unique, highly unusual and highly necessary" by the chairman of the state supreme court's disciplinary board, a judge has ordered that Feingold be locked out of his Philadelphia office, reports the Legal Intelligencer.

Philadelphia Common Pleas Court President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe also earlier this month appointed former state Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro as a conservator to wind down Feingold's practice and notify his clients that he cannot continue to represent them. Chairman William Pietragallo II of the disciplinary board says he has never before heard of a judge doing this in a case where the lawyer isn't either dead or incapacitated.

Feingold couldn't immediately be reached for comment by the legal publication, which has only his office telephone number. In an earlier disciplinary proceeding that led to a 2006 suspension from practice he admitted in testimony that he had attempted to strike the judge in 2004, the Intelligencer reports.

"I figured hell, if I'm going to lose my license, at least let me get my one punch in," testified Feingold, according to a disciplinary board report.