Email Scandals

Lawyers: Don't Make Domestic Violence Jokes In Your Emails

Don't make excuses for lapses in professionalism.

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Let’s put aside whether or not domestic violence jokes are ever appropriate. As an issue, it’s not a laughing matter, and yet, like a lot of comedy, there are contextual moments where transgressive statements can be ironic, unsettling, poignant, or otherwise funny. The point is, none of that really matters here because what lawyers need to take away from this situation is whether or not you’re the next George Carlin, putting your abuse jokes in a professional email is a poor move.

Our instructor for today’s lesson is Robert P. Latta, a partner at Wilson Sonsini. The Wall Street Journal sets up the complex series of events that led to Latta wishing a beating upon the San Francisco District Attorney:

Mr. [Gurbaksh] Chahal, founder and then-CEO of digital-ad company RadiumOne, was arrested and charged in August 2013 with 45 felony counts after San Francisco prosecutors alleged he struck his girlfriend more than 100 times over a 30-minute period in his apartment. A judge ruled in April 2014 that a home-security video recording of the incident was seized without a warrant and thus inadmissible as evidence. The alleged victim declined to testify.

Apparently, this arrest was a big deal. Not — obviously — because a woman was allegedly beaten on videotape, but because this whole affair came to a head immediately before a planned IPO. A felony of this nature, and its revelation, could cost big bucks, while the company may not even have to disclose a misdemeanor:

According to the mediation brief by Mr. Chahal’s attorney, on Jan. 13, 2014, attorneys at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, which represents RadiumOne, discussed in emails whether the company would need to disclose a misdemeanor in an IPO filing as it would a felony. “It can be argued that passing small bad checks is more relevant to the integrity or ability of an IPO executive than the charges in our situation,” wrote Robert Latta, a partner at Wilson Sonsini.

Why, one time I saw John D. Rockefeller throw his mistress down 2 flights of stairs and it didn’t make Standard Oil any less of a sure bet! Seriously though, this is an excellent point. A financial mismanagement misdemeanor is still probably material to investors, while conduct like that alleged here might frighten investors, but ultimately doesn’t have much to do with running the company. Unless, you know, it speaks to whether the CEO is hauled off to jail some day for this exact same behavior which an investor could have recognized as part of a pattern. But there’s no risk of that. Ahem:

On Friday, Mr. Chahal is slated to return to court for a hearing as the district attorney seeks to revoke his probation because of another alleged domestic-violence incident in which he was arrested but not charged last year.

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Anyway, while Chahal fought the admissibility of the home videotape, he emailed with Latta (and other lawyers) about his frustrations with San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón:

Some emails reflect consternation with Mr. Gascon, the district attorney. “Hopefully in the next day or so, once I win the inadmissibility [of the video of the domestic violence] the DA will finally back off,” Mr. Chahal wrote to attorneys on March 11. “Seems like Gascon needs to be visited with some domestic violence,” replied Mr. Latta, the Wilson Sonsini attorney.

Nope.

Come on lawyers, you know everyone’s always watching. You can delude yourself about the scope of “privilege” and “work product” and the quality (or non-quality) of your cybersecurity regime, but whatever you’re writing can see the light of day — don’t make excuses for lapses in professionalism.

That’s why you always limit victimization comedy to conference calls!

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RadiumOne Worked to Save IPO Amid Scandal [Wall Street Journal]

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