Legal Ethics

Judge Helped Spouse Shield Assets

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Lawyers recommended to a disciplinary panel at a hearing today that a New Hampshire judge be publicly reprimanded for helping her husband shield assets from creditors as he was being disbarred several years ago.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey says she didn’t realize at the time that she was doing anything wrong by putting family real estate into a trust, recounts the Associated Press. She reportedly apologized for her actions.

At issue in her husband’s disbarment is a large legal bill that the Professional Conduct Committee has been seeking, reports New Hampshire Public Radio in an article earlier this year. John Coffey was disbarred for exploiting a client with dementia.

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