Lawyer Gets Probation for Punching Opposing Counsel

A Philadelphia-area lawyer who punched his opposing counsel in a courthouse stairwell will serve six months of probation and 75 hours of community service for the assault.

Michael Rausch, a 46-year-old Cherry Hill, N.J., lawyer, was accused of throwing three punches at a Scranton lawyer who reportedly called him stupid and bald. Rausch was placed on probation under a program that results in dismissal of the charges when the conditions are completed, the Times-Tribune reports.

"I truly regret the incident," Rausch told the judge. It occurred in July at the Lackawanna County Courthouse during a civil suit over a car crash.

A William & Mary law grad, Rausch resigned from his law firm after his arrest and suffered “significant financial distress,” according to his lawyer, Peter Paul Olszewski.