Panel Seeks Disbarment of Harvard Law Grad and Ex-BigLaw Partner Who Lied on Child's School Aid App
Things went from bad to worse for a Harvard Law School graduate who lost his job at a BigLaw firm in 1991 and subsequently lied about family income on a Chicago private school application so that his daughter would get financial aid there.
Somehow, Illinois attorney discipline authorities got wind of the income misrepresentations, which were deemed to have been admitted because of Bruce Paul Golden’s conduct concerning the ethics matter.
Then, after he reportedly dodged service of the ethics complaint, filed frivolous pleadings, unleashed his anger on opposing counsel and others during a hearing and “continually blamed others for everything wrong in his life,” a hearing board of the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission recommended in a report (PDF) today that Golden be disbarred.
Golden, who may be in the midst of a divorce, according to the report, displayed “behavior and demeanor in person at the hearing [that] convinces us he is unable to represent another person and should not be permitted to practice law,” the board writes. “Based on our observations of respondent, we are convinced our duty to protect the public requires us to recommend disbarment.”
Saying that Golden, who testified that he is a 1969 graduate of Harvard Law School and worked for over 20 years at McDermott Will & Emery, should be well aware of how to practice law, the panel concluded that he is unable or unwilling to do so. “From the earliest stages of this case, respondent behaved in a manner which is totally unacceptable for a practicing attorney,” the board states in the report.
Efforts by the ABA Journal to reach Golden at several Chicago numbers listed for a Bruce P. Golden were unsuccessful.
Hat tip: Legal Profession Blog.
