California attorney Patrick Manshardt has the worst luck — or the worst enemies — ever. He has been representing a number of Chinese dissidents in a suit against Yahoo! for disclosing their information to the Chinese government.
The Whittier Law School grad has been involved in constitutional and civil rights litigation for the past 14 years. In February, he was given a 60-day suspension by the California Supreme Court for making an emergency appearance in the Yahoo! case while being on inactive status.
Why was he on inactive status? Because he hadn’t fulfilled his CLE credits. Why hadn’t he fulfilled his CLE credits? Well, that’s where this story becomes really f*&#ed up:
The reason why I did not complete my MCLE requirement was because on the day I was scheduled to take the classes in January 2007, I had been the victim of a home invasion robbery in Arcadia the night before. During the robbery I was stabbed in
the face, beaten repeatedly in the face and knee caps, and was left naked and unconscious in a ditch in pre-dawn hours. I awoke as I was being placed in an ambulance.
An ATL reader sent along Manshardt’s “Declaration in Response to Yahoo! Inc.’s Case Management Statement,” filed in the Northern District of California last month, noting:
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“This guy has prooooooblems, probably the least of which is CLE credit. But it’s always the CLE which gets you in the end.”
His problems worsen, after the jump.
Manshardt wants to keep working on the Yahoo! case despite his suspension and some problems with the State Bar as a result of his going on inactive status. You can read his full affidavit here.
It’s hard to imagine that the Court won’t sympathize. After being stabbed in the face, beaten, and left for dead, things in his life did not improve:
6. I became increasingly anxious and depressed after the robbery, in large part because I could not figure out who wanted to kill me and whether this episode would be repeated.
7. I was scheduled to take another MCLE course but in February 2008, I was civilly committed to the Charter Oaks Psychiatric Hospital in West Covina by the Arcadia Police Department. I learned from reading my chart that I was committed because the police found me wandering the streets in an altered state wearing only a coat and babbling to myself. I have no memory of any kind about this episode and recall only waking up to find myself in a mental hospital. I was released after two days.
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One psychiatrist suggested Ambien was to blame for Manshardt’s blackouts. He stopped taking it and eventually completed his MCLE requirement.
And you thought Biglaw left you feeling destroyed.
Declaration of Patrick Manshardt in Response to Yahoo! Inc.’s Case Management Statement