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Legal Ethics

Bad Behavior as Airline Passenger Grounds Attorney from Law Practice

Posted Sep 28, 2009 4:05 PM CST
By Martha Neil

A South Florida attorney has been temporarily disbarred, by consent, after allegedly using obscene language, groping a flight attendant and carrying a 7-year-old child down the aisle while the plane was airborne—nearly hitting the child's head on an exit sign—two years ago as a passenger aboard a Southwest Airlines flight.

John Michael Moody, 45, will not be able to practice for five years under the agreement. He earlier pleaded guilty to a federal criminal charge of intimidating or assaulting a flight attendant on an aircraft concerning the June 11, 2007 incident and was sentenced to a four-month prison term, reports the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

He could not be reached by the newspaper for comment.

Comments

1.

B. McLeod
Sep 28, 2009 11:42 PM CST

There’s a great, talking-parrot joke I would post here, but the Moderator would have to remove it.

So, cleaned-up version:  On a packed flight, a talking parrot is acting up, demanding blankets, liquor, headsets, etc., and directing abusive language toward the flight attendants.  Seeing the fun the parrot is having, a BigLaw Partner in an adjoining seat begins to emulate every demand and abusive tirade.

Finally, both are grabbed by airline goons, and ejected at 12,000 feet, via the rear exit.  Parrot’s parting words to the BigLaw Partner, “You know, you got a lot of #@!!* for a guy with no wings!”

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2.

SOLO
Sep 29, 2009 1:41 AM CST

what’s next—being disbarred for not tipping ina cafe?

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3.

Caroline
Sep 29, 2009 7:52 AM CST

SOLO - It seems awfully nervy to compare this to not tipping in a cafe.  We have an obligation to uphold a high standard of conduct, or have you forgotten?  I would have been disappointed if he hadn’t been suspended or disbarred for such disgraceful behavior.

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4.

Steve
Sep 29, 2009 10:30 AM CST

Five years of being essentially unable to earn significant money?  [Who will hire a disbarred lawyer fresh out of prison to do ANYTHING?]  This sanction is more about financial punishment than protecting clients.  Why not just fine him $500K or have him sign over his house to the Bar right now?

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5.

Lee
Sep 29, 2009 10:36 AM CST

Mr. Moody has been shown a lot of grace considering the child abuse he inflicted on a 7-year-old child and his sexual assault on a flight attendant.

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6.

LizM
Sep 29, 2009 10:55 AM CST

The fact that he was unable to control himself on an airplane, or keep himself from assualting a flight attendant certainly calls into question his ability to practice.  Either he has a substance abuse problem (not mentioned in the article) or some other imbalance.  Either way, I certainly wouldn’t hire him to represent me, and he should be kept away from clients.

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7.

MacTheKnife
Sep 29, 2009 2:21 PM CST

4 - Actually it’s about moral fitness and character to practice law.  Being convicted for a federal felony will almost always result in a lengthy suspension, often even a lifetime disbarment.  SOLO’s comment is even more baffling.  Perhaps he is a personal injury attorney.  That might explain it.

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8.

Attorney
Sep 30, 2009 6:00 AM CST

Its good to know that most of the posters are perfect and this of course would never happen to them. 5 years seems a little harsh but I guess he should be happy he wasn’t disbarred as there is always a rush to judge and prosecute attorneys for sneezing and not saying “excuse me.”

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9.

Anonymous
Sep 30, 2009 11:39 AM CST

I’d want to know more about the context of the situation.  What if this lawyer was on one of those flights that was grounded for 10+ hours & decided to fight his way off after 4-5 with no food, an overflowing toilet, crying children, etc.?  If I were in that kind of situation, I would demand to be off the plane since at least in jail you’d get a functioning toilet, food & a comfortable place to sleep.  It would be egregious to suspend a lawyer in my situation considering the public outrage over doing it to non-lawyers.

Aside from that scenario, I’d still want to know the context considering the actions of airlines & bad parenting that happen more and more often.

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10.

Bean Counter
Sep 30, 2009 11:50 AM CST

Agree with #7, also, he was facing 20 years prison time and got 4 months.  After reading many posters’ complain of having too many lawyers and not enough demand, I think we can let Mr. Moody go and be a non-lawyer.  It’s good for the profession for many reasons.

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11.

Wondering
Sep 30, 2009 2:53 PM CST

I certainly hope it was his own kid.  If not perhaps he should have been prosecuted for false imprisonment.  If it was his own kid, why wasn’t he charged with child neglict or abuse for slapping the kid’s head against the sign.  Either way he should suffer the consequences of his conviction and accept disbarment like the disturbed individual he is.

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12.

Bakes, Esq.
Oct 2, 2009 2:02 AM CST

5 years does indeed seem like a steep penalty, but it’s hard to argue that he was dealt with unjustly.  Or have the people here complaining that the penalty is too steep forgotten that crimes committed aboard an aircraft are federal offenses?

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13.

Rob P.
Oct 2, 2009 3:15 AM CST

9 - He was drunk and it was not his child.  The flight was in the air, not on a ground hold.  There’s no context that makes this better.

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14.

O'Romano Polansky
Oct 2, 2009 5:13 AM CST

You think he has problems? You think David Letterman has problems? What’s wrong with groping? The 7-year old looked 24.

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15.

philosopher
Oct 2, 2009 6:32 AM CST

What happened here to this lawyer makes complete sense.  There are no second chances in life. 

In my previous career, I owned a company and my employees were judged by our customers every day.  The minute someone even remotely failed to live up to the customers’ expectations, we would be dropped by that customer and a competitor would get the business we lost.  That’s competition and capitalism at work.

This was the standard we were held to in the market:  You had one shot and if you blew it, you were finished.  You hoped that your performance was flawless in the early stages of your customer relationship because sometimes you would be forgiven if the “mistake” was small enough. 

That makes a big difference when you are hiring.  You can NEVER EVER hire a guy like this because it can cost you dearly.  He blew it and that should be the end of his career - period.  Fining him $500,000 and having him deed over his house to the Bar would not be enough.  He probably should have drawn the 20 year federal prison sentence because “#4 Steve” above is absolutely correct - he’s FINISHED.

Life is cold and unforgiving.

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16.

Boston IP
Oct 2, 2009 7:21 AM CST

We should hold everyone to these standards, not just attorneys.  Why do so many attorneys think we are above everyone else?  Everyone - lawyers, doctors, cashiers, construction workers, teachers - should all be held to a certain standard of conduct.  Groping a flight attendant and acting poorly in public is not acceptable for anyone!  Although, politicians think it is acceptable for them.

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17.

JFK
Oct 2, 2009 7:58 AM CST

#11, the problem was not child abuse, but that if the kid’s head hit the exit sign it could damage the plane.

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18.

robert
Oct 2, 2009 8:06 AM CST

A five year suspension wasn’t enough.  He should have been charged with “Criminal Impersonation of a Member of Congress” and jailed for life.  Or required to actually run for office and win to clear his name.

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19.

JFK
Oct 2, 2009 8:09 AM CST

#18, that is really harsh.  You have sullied the names of boorish airplane passengers the world over by comparing them to our legisltors.

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20.

Jeff
Oct 2, 2009 8:12 AM CST

13 (Rob P.) - I’m sure you’re right (and if there were any crazy mitigating circumstances, the article would have said so), but still I wonder a little bit about the context here.  What events led to him carrying child who was not his?  Did he just pick up some unsuspecting child at random?  I wonder if the real issue is that he’s mentally ill.

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21.

Kalifornia Arnold
Oct 2, 2009 9:14 AM CST

The entire profession is better off without this person. Maybe next time he’ll think. He certainly now has the time.

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22.

Fred
Oct 2, 2009 9:18 AM CST

NEWS FLASH: Lawyer is obnoxious, drunken a&&h*le!

Wow, who could have seen that coming?

Seems to me we don’t disbar enough people who need disbarring.  I’m dealing with one right now who I am convinced (but cannot YET prove) has been consistently committing tax fraud for at least 7 years.  He’s already been reprimanded and sued by the state A.G. for other matters and is facing sanctions in several courts.  Yet the guy still has a practice with his name on it and continues to file suits in various courts.  The guy needs to go - we don’t need him practicing in our field.

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23.

MacTheKnife
Oct 2, 2009 12:50 PM CST

#8 Nope.  Not perfect, just not convicted felons.  Perhaps you dont’ enjoy the same status.  It would explain you’re equating a breach of etiquette with a federal felony.

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24.

a. thomas elliott, Jr.
Oct 2, 2009 8:00 PM CST

Everone seems to assume this is a felony.  There are federal misdemeanors involving air passengers.

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25.

MacTheKnife
Oct 2, 2009 10:07 PM CST

49 USC 46504. Interference with flight crew members and attendants is felony not a misdemeanor.

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26.

Anon
Oct 3, 2009 8:48 AM CST

Everyone assumes it was a felony because he was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Duh.

And to #8, yes, I can say with great confidence that this scenario will never happen to me.

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27.

SW
Oct 5, 2009 9:44 AM CST

Here is a link to an article that has some more details of what happened. Lawyers are people too and we all have moments where we are agitated and do not always act like a saint, but this guy’s actions are below those of any normal person, much less a lawyer. He should be permanently disbarred and should have gotten a lot more than 4 months in prison. Also, it was NOT his kid; I hope the parents sue the hell out of him for that little stunt.

http://www.queerty.com/gay-gets-too-friendly-in-the-sky-20070615/

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28.

CorporateLawyer
Oct 9, 2009 10:13 AM CST

I read the full article which sheds much light on this persons true behavior.  He boarded the plane with 3 friends loudly asking where the ‘gay section’ was located.  He drank from booze he had smuggled onboard. He loudly asked the flight attendant (a male) to have sex with him in the bathroom while gropping the attendants body. While standing, this person was told his behaviour was offense to the other passengers including children whereby he THEN lifted an child - NOT HIS but the son of an unrelated passenger - over his head and trotted up/down the isle.  This guy was later shown to have had meth in his system and incarcerated for a week but soon after, he was found to have meth in his system again and given the full 4 months.  His blame was that his sister died and it shook his world.  My mother died while I was still in law school and as heavy as that was for me to bear, I did not scare the crap out of children as a means of soothing my inner pain.  Thank goodness he is or WILL BE disbarred based on the felony conviction (federal).

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