Lawyer is suspended for failing to disclose Paris trip that led to missed court dates
A Minnesota lawyer has received an indefinite suspension for implying illness prevented her from attending court hearings when the real reason was a trip to Paris to attend her brother’s wedding.
Mpatanishi Syanaloli Tayari-Garrett, identified as M. Tayari Garrett in previous coverage, won’t be able to petition for reinstatement for at least 120 days, according to the Legal Profession Blog, which links to the suspension (PDF) by the Minnesota Supreme Court.
Tayari-Garrett, who practiced law in Texas and Minnesota, had sought to continue a May 2, 2011, trial for her Minnesota client in a criminal matter, citing a personal commitment, according to the opinion. Before a hearing on the motion, Tayari-Garrett bought a nonrefundable plane ticket to Paris to attend her brother’s wedding from May 4 to May 9.
The court denied the motion for a continuance, and a lawyer who showed up on Tayari-Garrett’s behalf on May 2 said she had informed him she was hospitalized in Dallas and needed a continuance. The court granted a one-day continuance and ordered Tayari-Garrett to provide documentation of her hospitalization, her prognosis, and the arrangements she had made to travel from Dallas to Minneapolis for the May 2 trial. Tayari-Garrett did not show up for the May 3 hearing.
Tayari-Garrett later established she was hospitalized on May 2 and released the next day. On May 4, she traveled to Paris. While in Paris, she attended a May 5 hearing by telephone on a motion for an order to show cause why she shouldn’t be held in contempt. She discussed her illness but not the fact that she was in Paris. She also told the court she couldn’t make a May 9 contempt hearing because of a follow-up appointment; actually she was en route from Paris to Dallas on that day. She was eventually convicted of misdemeanor contempt of court, and the conviction was affirmed on appeal.
The court upheld a referee’s findings that aggravating factors included a lack of remorse for her actions and a refusal to acknowledge the wrongful nature of her conduct.
