Lawyer of the Day: Thomas Decea
If she hadn't already gotten a shout-out in Morning Docket, we might have named Karyn McConnell Hancock our Lawyer of the Day. She's the pregnant Ohio attorney who, as reported by the AP, disappeared for four days, then made up a story about being kidnapped at gunpoint and taken to Georgia. According to her husband, she had "a meltdown."
Instead, since Hancock's story has already gotten lots of MSM coverage, we'll bestow today's prize upon New York lawyer Thomas Decea. From a story in the New York Law Journal by Anthony Lin (who's on a roll lately; two words: Charlene Morisseau):
A New York judge has ordered court supervision of a lawyer for "objectionable conduct" toward a female opposing counsel who he said had a "cute little thing going on" during a deposition.According to transcripts of the deposition, Thomas B. Decea of Danzig Fishman & Decea in White Plains also called Michelle A. Rice of Arkin Kaplan & Rice "hon" and "girl" and asked her why she was not wearing a wedding ring.
It's interesting to note that Michelle Rice, alleged possessor of the "cute little thing," is a name partner in the law firm of legendary litigator Stanley Arkin -- who's renowned for his toughness.
The underlying litigation is also noteworthy. It involves Lowenstein Sandler, one of New Jersey's largest and most profitable law firms (Rice's client).
More excerpts and discussion -- including an attempt to explain away Decea's calling Michelle Rice "hon" as a reference to "Attila the Hun" -- after the jump.
Still from Tony Lin's article:
The underlying case is a legal malpractice suit filed by a hedge fund against its former law firm. Decea, 48, was the lawyer for hedge fund Laddcap Value and its manager, Robert B. Ladd. Rice, 46, was representing the fund's former firm, Lowenstein Sandler of Roseland, N.J.The fund claims Lowenstein Sandler made mistakes that bogged down in costly litigation Laddcap's efforts to reform corporate governance at a company in which it was the largest shareholder. The law firm claims Laddcap is merely trying to avoid paying its legal bill.
The trouble started when Decea objected to Rice's use of leading questions -- and suggested that she didn't know how to conduct a proper depo:
"This is not a white collar interview that you're sitting here interviewing something with your cute little thing going on," Decea said, according to the transcript, later telling her it was "nothing personal, dear."After Rice told Decea she thought his comments were indeed personal and offensive, he said: "Your skin is getting thin now."
At another point in the deposition, Decea referred to Rice as "hon." After she questioned his use of the term, [Decea's client Robert] Ladd jumped in to suggest that Decea had meant Hun "[a]s in Attila" and that the remark was not personal.
"As in Attila? I don't even understand that," Rice replied.
Neither do we. You can read the full article, which refers to other incidents in which Decea allegedly referred to female lawyers as "little girl" or "young girl," by clicking here.
Correction: Please ignore the text in strikethrough; we misread that paragraph of the article.
Court Supervision of Attorney Ordered due to Lack of Civility [New York Law Journal]
(39) Comments
How can we determine if she indeed had a cute little thing going on if her firm's page doesn't have her picture up? Come on!
A graduate of Bridgeport Law should treat a graduate of Georgetown Law with more respect.
Bridgeport School of Law? Yeah, no wonder he didnt know there was a rule requiring civility between counsel.
Interesting, but would love to see the "cute little thing" going on.
I had a friend at some random White Plains firm - all kinds of crazy stuff used to happen in White Plains.
Maybe "cute little thing" was just referring to a shtick of hers, like a certain way of conducting a deposition.
String him up by his balls land beat him with reeds.
I had the same reaction as 1:11 to "cute little thing."
This is why we need pictures!
Bridgeport is now Quinnipiac.
Using the term "MSM" is very 2004. Get with the program, Lat.
"Ladd jumped in to suggest that Decea had meant Hun '[a]s in Attila'"
That is absolutely classic. How hard was the court reporter laughing at this point?
"You can read the full article, which refers to other incidents in which Decea allegedly referred to female lawyers as 'little girl' or 'young girl'..."
Umm, no it doesn't.
That is why Ladd is a hedge fund manager; he can say shit like that and make it funny. He probably ended up banging the cute little thing in the bathroom during a break.
Please automate the deletion of comments that bust your balls for using the term MSM, Lat. If you want, I will write you a few snippets of code to automate the process - it's really super easy.
1:30, yes it does:
"The judge described his contention as 'baffling.' She also noted that a number of judges had in the past been publicly reprimanded for referring to female lawyers as "little girl" or "young girl." She pointed out that the Commission on Judicial Conduct had said such words were 'calculated to demean the lawyer.'"
Maybe the piece doesn't describe them in much detail, but it does "refer" to these incidents, in passing.
1:02- In the REAL world when you are doing REAL work you get no "respect" for going to a good school. You only get "respect" for being a good lawyer, which Arkin is by the way.
Decea got pwn3d by the judge. He was in trouble from the beginning; the first line of the opinion quotes Decea as saying "I am not aware of any rule or law which requires civility by counsel."
1:48: No it doesn't. Re-read the sentences: "...refers to other incidents in which *Decea* allegedly referred..." vs. "...noted that *a number of judges* had in the past been publicly reprimanded for referring..." (emphasis added to both).
I'm a young, attractive litigator in NYC and I receive unwelcome and condescending remarks based upon my age, looks, and gender on a fairly regular basis.
The other day I was in Court and a male attorney (who I had never met previously) used my LAP to lean on as he signed an Order. He asked me if this was ok AFTER he began writing and I was so shocked I didn't say anything. I also don't want to overreact, you know, and be labeled "emotional" or something equally denegrating.
At one conference, my adversay said to me "listen, young lady, I'm old enough to be your father, so just shut up and sign the order" when I argued over his discovery demands. I calmly responded, "how embarassed you must be to be appearing at a preliminary conference with someone as young as me." Douche.
I'm a hot young blonde with a slammin' body, and lawyers always tell me I've "got cute thing going on," am a "little girl," have a "nice bod," etc. It's no big deal.
"I calmly responded, 'how embarassed you must be to be appearing at a preliminary conference with someone as young as me.'"
excellent.
thomas decea is quite obviously some sort of pirate/viking hybrid. michelle rice is probably a ninja, which is why there are no photographs of her.
Guys at my high school were unaware of any rule requiring civility and used to tell girls they had cute little things going on all the time, it was no big deal.
Uhm, Arkin went to Harvard. I think that's a pretty good school.
i hear you, HBIC. the other day my co-counsel called me 'baby' in one phone conversation and 'hon' in the second. i think it would be a little harder to get court-ordered supervision of co-counsel, though. i suppose i could ask the partner who backed me into a supply closet once to keep an eye on him for me.
most of the male lawyers i work with are respectful of me and these incidents don't happen very frequently. mostly i ignore them, since i'm a big girl and am not that sensitive. it's damned annoying, though.
olders lawyers being assholes to young lawyers in deps is a longstanding tradition. I'm sure its worse for women, but in my first dep, the opposing lawyer kept referring to me as "son"
he later apologized, but he was clearly trying to demean and belittle me
HBIC, if you can find time between lamenting the social injustices of the world, I'll take my coffee with sugar and cream. Thanks, hon.
HBIC, if you can find time between lamenting the social injustices of the world, I'll take my coffee with sugar and cream. Thanks, hon.
Thristy, perhaps first I'll teach you how to post a comment. Then you can get back to wanking your tiny penis, as per the usual.
Thirsty, pwn3d badly by HBIC...
The stories told 2:23 and 2:38 are perfect examples of why New York City is a TTT.
Calling someone Hun as in Attila means you presume them to be German and are using Hun as a racial slur.
http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/hun.htm
Probably women should be taught from an early age to slap a man who touches them inappropriately. It should be almost a reflex, so the man doesn't get away with it because she is so surprised she doesn't know what to do.
HBIC, you're awesome and I'm in love with you.
Lowestein Sandler is an absolute sweatshop- ridiculous compression and full of miserable people.
HBIC Hi there- can we date? CALL ME :)
HBIC Hi there- can we date? CALL ME :)
I'm flattered...though telling people that we met via abovethelaw comment posts is humiliating enough for me to pass.
Who said you have to tell? Discretion is the better part of valor