Top Vt. Court Suspends Clientless Lawyer, Says Pro Se Filings Show He Could Harm Potential Clients
The state’s supreme court has suspended a Vermont lawyer on an interim basis, pending further disciplinary action, even though he apparently has no clients.
Saying that William E. Simendinger has shown, through pro se filings and other conduct, that there is “a real and substantial threat of serious harm to the public were he to seek to represent clients,” the Vermont imposed the temporary suspension in an Oct. 23 opinion (PDF).
Among other claimed conduct that the court found worrisome, Simendinger allegedly said in a filing in his own Vermont divorce case that the Mafia had taken over state courts after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the state government and said in his defense of a disorderly conduct case prosecuted against him in New Hampshire that all judges, prosecutors and court staff there were clinically insane.
Hat tip: Legal Profession Blog.
