The legal profession is populated by some colorful characters -- like our latest Lawyer of the Day, Jack Tuckner. From the New York Post:

A leading lower Manhattan women's-rights lawyer watched porn at his desk, discussed his "pierced genitalia" and wears a "slave" collar at work as part of a sadomasochistic relationship with his girlfriend, a shocking sex- harassment suit alleges.

Jack Tuckner, 50, whose law firm says it's "dedicated to the empowerment of women in the workplace," is a "self-described 'testosterone-poisoned' attorney with a penchant for bondage . . . who demeaned all of the women who worked for him," says the suit.

It was filed yesterday in Manhattan Supreme Court by former office manager Lisa Brockington.

But if the slave-collar-wearing Tuckner is the "sub" in the S&M setup, doesn't that make it okay? Isn't he the one being demeaned, rather than the one doing the demeaning?

More after the jump.

Four years ago, Alan Plofsky, the head of the Connecticut State Ethics Commission, was fired in response to an "anonymous" letter from a "parking lot attendant." The attendant's letter was a laundry list of complaints about goings-on in the ethics office. The simple-minded attendant claimed to "patrol the building where the ethics is" and cutely misspelled "anonimus." The attendant noted that ethics folks worked strange hours and seemed to take a lot of holidays.

Turns out the "attendant" was a big ole fabrication, by one of the attorneys working for Plofsky. From the Hartford Courant:

Now, newly uncovered legal documents show that the letter was concocted by Maureen Duggan, a staff lawyer who worked for Plofsky.

Duggan dropped a bombshell of an admission concerning the letter during a Jan. 15 deposition:

"I drafted this," she admitted under oath.

"But you had intentionally disguised it so that it would appear that it wasn't written by you?" Plofsky's lawyer, Gregg Adler, asked later.

"That's true," said Duggan, whose married surname in 2004 was Regula. She has since divorced.

Duggan said in her deposition that her then-husband, lawyer Steven Regula, mailed the letter she had written. Duggan said she told him "I couldn't go through with" sending it, but he "took that to mean ... that I couldn't do it and I needed his help. So he sent the letter."

The admission raises ethical, perhaps even legal, questions about the behavior of Duggan, who now works as a staff lawyer at the state Department of Children and Families for $105,180 a year.

Questionable ethics, Duggan. But when all else fails, blaming the ex-husband sometimes works. Good luck with that.

Daniel Schwartz has more discussion over at the Connecticut Employment Law Blog. He offers some caveats about relying upon anonymous complaints, arguing that they should be viewed "with a dose of healthy skepticism."

But we still like anonymity at ATL. It allows for good story tips and hilarious (though sometimes disturbing) comments.

Document Accusing Ethics Chief Was A Fraud [Hartford Courant]
In Relying on Anonymous Complaints for Investigations, Reader Beware [Connecticut Employment Law Blog]

Judge Carlton Vines presides over traffic violations and DUIs in Chattooga County, Georgia. It's a tiny county with a population of just over 25,000. The local newspaper, The Summerville News, has an ongoing investigative series examining the county's drunk-driving phenomenon and growing number of DUI arrests.

Unfortunately, Judge Vines has become a part of the phenomenon. He was arrested in November of last year for driving drunk and leaving the scene of an accident after swerving into another car. The coppers just released the dash-cam video from the arrest. The man was trashed, slurring, and stumbling... though still cogent enough to refuse the breathalyzer.

From WBS TV:

Vines pleaded guilty to DUI charges in April. He has since spent three nights in jail, paid fines, done community service and was on house arrest.

On the tape, Vines can be heard admitting he has had "over the limit." At one point on the tape, an officer asks, "Do you remember the wreck you were involved in?" Vines can be heard responding, "I'm not going to admit or deny it but I will take responsibility."

A nolo plea -- or just good drunken logic? Vines is under voluntary suspension, and the Georgia State Judicial Commission gets to decide whether he returns to the bench.

Judge Vines makes some bizarre comment about sharecropping at the end of the YouTube video. Can someone from rural Georgia please explain?

Caught On Tape: Georgia Judge Arrested For DUI [WSB TV]
Drunk Judge Arrested [YouTube.com]

We seem to be on a drug bust kick today. ATL says: "Just say no!"

Especially while you're hanging out behind the courthouse on a jury break. From the Houston Chronicle:

Judge Sherman Ross tried to assemble a jury of peers for a woman accused of possession of a marijuana on trial Tuesday.

But authorities say prospective juror Cornelia Mayo might have taken that concept a bit too far after she was caught smoking a joint outside the courthouse during a break.

Give that juror a bong hit, and she will acquit.

In other drug news, Georgia has a law going into effect July 1st that bans retailers from selling marijuana-flavored candy to kids, punishable with a $500 fine. The man responsible for pushing the bill forward in the Georgia state senate? Senator Stoner.

It targets businesses that sell the candies with drug-inspired names such as "Kronic Kandy" and "Pot Suckers." The law says the candies promote drug use.

Senator Doug Stoner pushed the bill in the senate. "I don't think that folks are aware this is going on," Stoner told Channel 2 in April. "It's mainly, from what I can tell, particularly targeted to minority communities."

Remember the good old days, when retail stores only tried to push candy cigarettes?

Prospective juror in pot trial caught smoking marijuana [Houston Chronicle]
Georgia Law Bans Retailers From Selling 'Pot Candy' To Minors [WSB TV]

Oh how the mighty have fallen. From the Miami Herald:

A Boston defense attorney once dubbed one of People Magazine's Most Eligible bachelors was arrested for allegedly drugging and raping a college student he met at a Miami Beach nightclub.

Gary Zerola -- already facing trial in two sexual attacks in Boston -- was arrested last Friday night and booked into Miami-Dade County jail. Miami Beach police charged Zerola, 36, with sexual battery.

Once known for his work on behalf of foster children, Zerola was also a candidate to star in the first season of ABC's reality hit The Bachelor,'' according to Boston media reports.

More discussion, plus a photo of the handsome defendant, after the jump.

If you're driving 100 miles per hour, but in a hybrid vehicle, can you still get pulled over? Unfortunately for Al Gore III, yes. From Reuters:

The 24-year-old son of former Vice President Al Gore was arrested for drug possession on Wednesday after he was stopped for speeding in his hybrid Toyota Prius, a sheriff's official said.

Al Gore III -- whose father is a leading advocate of policies to fight global warming -- was driving his environmentally friendly car at about 100 miles per hour on a freeway south of Los Angeles when he was pulled over by an Orange County sheriff's deputy at about 2:15 a.m.

Speed limits suck. Why can't we institute a system of "speeding offsets," like the market for carbon offsets? Grandmothers in Boca Raton, who consistently drive 10 miles under the speed limit, could supplement their incomes by selling the right to speed. Who needs Social Security?

After the traffic stop, things only got worse for young Al. From the New York Daily News:

Deputies then searched the car, and Gore faced an inconvenient truth when they allegedly found a small amount of pot and mind-altering pills - Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall.

"He does not have a prescription for any of those drugs," [a sheriff's spokesman] said.

Finally, we loved this little detail:

Al the 3rd lives in Los Angeles and works for GOOD magazine, which describes itself as "media for people who give a damn."

If this arrest is BAD for Al's career at GOOD, we hear they're accepting résumés over at High Times.

Al Gore's son busted for drugs in hybrid car [Reuters]
He's our li'l eco-maniac! [New York Daily News]
Al Gore's Son Busted! [TMZ via Jezebel]

Is this case proof that you shouldn't do your own taxes? Even if you're a tax lawyer, who previously worked for the IRS?

(Also, we like the detail that the petitioner wife operated a business known as "Nature's Touch." And no, it was not a massage parlor.)

Tax Court: Attorney In IRS's Office of Chief Counsel Underreported Income and Overstated Deductions [TaxProf Blog]
LeBloch v. Commissioner [U.S. Tax Court]

A legal writing teacher who can't spell? From the St. Petersburg Times (gavel bang: Paul Caron):

In 2004, the woman who would become legal writing director at Florida A&M University's law school posted a working paper online so legal scholars nationwide could see her work.

The subject was heady: environmental dispute resolution.

But Victoria Dawson's paper was so riddled with grammatical errors and mangled writing that some FAMU law students are now using it to help build a case that Dawson is not qualified to teach and was hired primarily on the strength of her personal ties.

Here's an excerpt from Dawson's magnum opus:

"He consulted with government officials and he sent his general manager of asset management representative repeatedly crossed the creek to negotiate with village leaders of Ugborodo during the women's 10-day occupation."

Oh, and the title was misspelled: "Environmental Dispute Resolution: Developing Mechanisims [sic] for Effective Transnational Enforcement of International Environmental Standards."

Physician, heal thyself...

Update: Are people being too hard on Professor Dawson? And could L'Affaire Dawson have adverse consequences for the legal academy? Professor Dan Markel offers some thoughts here.

P.S. We apologize for any typographical, grammatical, or spelling errors in this post. When you need to crank out a dozen or so posts a day, you don't have much time for proofreading.

Florida A&M Legal Writing Director Faces Questions Over Paper Posted on bepress [TaxProf Blog]
A Cautionary Tale for Users of SSRN and bepress? [PrawfsBlawg]
Errors mar law prof's paper [St. Petersburg Times via How Appealing]

He's not a judge yet, so we can't bestow our coveted Judge of the Day award upon him. But he has secured the Democratic nomination for a judgeship, in Philadelphia -- which means he has a decent shot of being elected.

Then again, whether Willie Singletary gets elected to the bench may depend upon how much the electorate appreciates irony. From the Philadelphia Inquirer:

Willie Singletary won a Democratic nomination for Traffic Court last week despite being a scofflaw of major proportions.

As of primary day, Singletary, 26, owed $11,427.50 for 55 violations, including reckless driving, driving without a license, careless driving, driving without registration, and driving without insurance.

In fact, a bench warrant had been issued for his arrest - a fact made public after the election by Bernard Strain, who lost in the Democratic primary for Traffic Court but who won a Republican nomination.

A little more discussion, after the jump.

One of you posted this in the comments, and we subsequently verified it with sources at the firm. Late last week, this announcement was made internally at Sullivan & Cromwell:

I am pleased to announce that Vince DiBlasi, Andrew Gerlach, Tracy Richelle High, Jessica Klein, Keith Pagnani, Melissa Sawyer, Karen Seymour, and Fred Rich, as Chair, have agreed to serve on a new working group focusing on the recruiting process and the associate experience. The group has been charged with looking at all aspects of our recruiting strategy and process, and, in conjunction with the Associate Development Committee, our approach to associate career development and every aspect of the associate experience at the firm.

We have no higher priority than continuing to attract the most promising law students, and then to provide them, and all our current lawyers, with training, professional opportunities and an overall experience that is second to none. I would be grateful if each of you would share your own ideas and suggestions with any member of this group.

Rodgin Cohen

Some of you will accuse us of seeing everything through an Aaron Charney lens, but we'll pose the question anyway: Could this be a response to the public relations fallout from Charney v. S&C?

As for the composition of the working group, we have to ask: What's up with the half measures, Rodge? If you want to put S&C's best, jack-booted foot forward, why not throw Krautheimer and Korry on it too?

If you have any suggestions for the S&C committee, please offer them in the comments. We recommend weekly Leni Riefenstahl screenings to improve associate morale.

(The timing couldn't be better -- there's a Riefenstahl renaissance afoot.)