Referee Says Outspoken Fla. Lawyer Disparaged Litigants, Lawyers

A referee has scheduled a sanctions hearing against outspoken Florida lawyer Jack Thompson after concluding he disparaged and humiliated litigants and other lawyers.

The referee, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Dava Tunis, also found that Thompson made false statements to tribunals and improperly practiced law outside the state, the Daily Business Review reports. The charges were related to statements Thompson made in court pleadings, e-mails, letters and faxes.

Tunis’ five-page report, issued Monday, recommended guilty findings on 27 ethics violations and not-guilty findings on four others, the story says. She did not explain how she reached her conclusions.

The report was based on complaints about Thompson’s conduct before judges in Miami and Alabama and his interactions with lawyers from Tew Cardenas and Blank Rome, the story says.

Thompson, an anti-pornography lawyer, has filed a motion to strike the recommendations because they lack detail, the story says. "She should have issued her report at least to her findings and then have a sanction hearing,” he told the Daily Business Review.

Thompson has filed numerous pleadings with the Florida Supreme Court that claim the bar is violating his First Amendment rights. The court called the pleadings “rambling, argumentative and contemptuous” and refused to accept any more filings from him unless they were signed by another lawyer.