Federal judge orders arrest of lawyer who missed contempt hearing
A federal judge in Akron, Ohio, ordered the arrest of a Cleveland lawyer who missed a contempt hearing being held Thursday morning because of a prior missed hearing.
The lawyer, Brent English, was arrested on Thursday afternoon outside the Cleveland courthouse and brought before U.S. District Judge John Adams of Akron, Cleveland.com reports. English was at the Cleveland courthouse for a patent trial.
During the hearing, Adams said he was reluctant to sign the warrant for arrest, but he felt that was the only way to get English to appear, according to the Cleveland.com report. English said he had missed the prior hearing on Oct. 21 after joining the patent case and receiving a wrong trial date from co-counsel.
English said he had hoped and anticipated the trial would be completed in time, and Adams had denied his request to postpone federal court hearings. Adams said English should have contacted other lawyers in the federal case to see if they would agree to postpone the hearings.
“That would have been the professional way to deal with it,” Adams said.
