Rejecting 30-day recommendation, top court suspends lawyer for a year for having sex with client
Rejecting a recommended 30-day law license suspension for a Tennessee attorney who had sex with a court-appointed client, the state’s supreme court on Thursday imposed a one-year suspension on Robert Lee Vogel.
“By making sexual advances towards [the client], engaging in a sexual relationship with her, pleading with her on one occasion to engage in a sexual relationship after she expressed her reluctance to do so, and continuing to serve as her attorney, Mr. Vogel failed to safeguard the trust of a vulnerable client and exploited his fiduciary role,” the supreme court said in its written opinion (PDF).
Vogel did not contest that he had sex with the pill-addicted woman while helping her get a plea deal in a federal drug case. However, he said he had a sex addiction for which he later got treatment and his lawyer said the woman was not a victim but a defendant willing to use sex for her own benefit, the Knoxville News Sentinel reports.
The Chattanoogan also has a story.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “30-day suspension for sex with client isn’t too lenient, lawyer argues”
