Lawyer Who Wouldn’t Stop Talking Suspended From Federal Practice
A Tennessee lawyer who kept talking after a federal judge ordered him to keep quiet has been suspended from practice in the Eastern District of Tennessee for at least three years.
Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier said Knoxville lawyer Herbert Moncier “harbors a disrespect for the institutional role of the judge,” the Knoxville News Sentinel reports. “This disrespect is so ingrained and deep-seated that [Moncier] seems unable to realize its full extent, and he expresses it in ways that are clearly detrimental to himself,” Collier wrote.
Collier acted under a rule adopted in the Eastern District of Tennessee allowing judges to initiate disbarment proceedings. The Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility is also considering a complaint against Moncier in connection with the November 2006 incident.
Moncier was also convicted of contempt, fined $5,000 and sentenced to probation for the incident. During the hearing, Moncier was being questioned about a possible conflict of interest. He was accused of repeatedly interrupting or speaking above the judge, of claiming the prosecution was conspiring to prevent him from trying cases, and of threatening to remain mute. When the judge asked him to keep quiet, Moncier asked to speak to his client, prompting the judge to order him jailed.
Collier said Moncier’s conduct was exacerbated by refusing to acknowledge and apologize for his wrongdoing and frivolous filings with the court. Earlier filings displayed “shoddiness, sloppiness, misspellings, and unprofessional tone,” Collier said, but later filings improved. Moncier also had been warned by a prior judge that his courtroom conduct bordered on contemptuous, Collier said.
Collier’s order (PDF posted by the Knoxville News Sentinel) would allow Moncier to apply for reinstatement after three years if he meets a series of conditions, including writing letters of apology. At most, Moncier would be suspended for five years and on probationary status for another two years.
Moncier has filed an emergency appeal with the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Associated Press reports.
Corrected on 05-02-2008 to state that the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility is also considering a complaint against Moncier.
