Judge's battle to stay on bench ends at SCOTUS, but ethics case is still ongoing
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal by a former Florida judge of the state supreme court’s decision to remove her from the bench last year.
However, while the denial of former Broward Circuit Judge Laura Watson’s certiorari petition ends her quest to get her judicial job back, a state legal ethics case is ongoing, the Daily Business Review (sub. req.) reports.
It concerns whether Watson will be able to practice law, and focuses on the same insurance class-action settlement that resulted in her removal from the bench.
Her lawyer, Robert Sweetapple of Sweetapple, Broeker & Vargas, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by the Daily Business Review.
Watson has previously said she did nothing wrong and characterized the matter in issue in the ethics cases as a dispute over attorney’s fees.
Reportedly, she is now working as a mediator.
Hat tip: South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Judge should lose job for mishandling a case 10 years ago, when still in practice, ethics panel says”
ABAJournal.com: “Judge removed by top state court for long-ago conduct in class action, before she took the bench”
