Legal Ethics

'Man Up Boy' Is the Most Alabama Ethics Opinion Ever

Public reprimand for smacking down bitching client. Totally worth it!

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AlabamaSometimes you read about an ethics opinion and just know that you’re not reading the New York Law Journal.

This story couldn’t be more obviously Alabama unless it was about misappropriating funds to build a bronze memorial to Bear Bryant, Dale Earnhardt Sr., and Stonewall Jackson’s even more fervently racist cousin outside the local Belk.

Behold:

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Lawyers fighting back against client criticism isn’t new. Last year, a Colorado attorney earned a suspension for publishing attorney-client communications to defend himself after former clients bashed him in online reviews. But while that case involved disclosures to directly refute the claims in the review, this opinion gets a little more personal. It’s not the level of stuffy professionalism lawyers typically aspire to, and this sort of response could have a chilling effect for clients who may not want to know their psychological medical history is but a complaint away from becoming public knowledge, but if the powers-that-be in Alabama don’t have much problem with it, who are we to judge?

Because a reprimand and publication? If that’s all it is, then that’s totally worth it to get some payback.

Earlier: Lawyer Refuses To Take Client Criticism On The Internet, Earns 18-Month Suspension

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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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