The Ohio Supreme Court just stripped Kenneth Donchatz of his license to practice law. It’s a bizarre twist ending to the career of a lawyer who dubbed himself the “Ethics Monster” back when he worked as an assistant disciplinary counsel, doggedly pursuing other attorneys for their ethical foibles. From the Columbus Dispatch:
One charge against Donchatz alleged he improperly obtained a $100,000 loan from a client in 2009 in a transaction that was not arms-length and only repaid $57,000. Donchatz told the justices that the rest was repaid with an antique desk, given to him by the same client, that was discovered by a certified appraiser to be worth more than $51,000 after it was refurbished. The statement left Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor incredulous.
And who doesn’t pay their bills with $51K desks? Maybe if Seyfarth wasn’t long on antique desk payments they wouldn’t be laying people off.
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He also was found to have filed court paperwork falsely claiming he fully repaid a $2,181 default judgment that a tree-trimming company won against him and filing a false statement. Donchatz also was discovered to have made an improper filing falsely claiming that a lawsuit had been settled.
You know what else is a little weird? His firm’s website — which may not be long for this world, so here’s a screenshot — prominently displays the New York skyline, and I’ll bet dollars to doughnuts that he’s not a New York attorney.
The lawyer also was found to have misrepresented the statements of an assistant disciplinary counsel, and defaming her, while representing another lawyer accused of misconduct. The First Amendment does not protect lawyers from liability for making malicious statements against other lawyers in legal proceedings, the justices ruled.
Listen, I’m not saying my adversaries are sodomizing goats, I’m just saying those goats look nervous, all right? Isn’t that precisely the sort of statement the Founders were trying to protect?
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Ultimately this was a close case — not the misconduct, that was pretty clear to the justices — but three justices thought Donchatz deserved only a two-year suspension based on this conduct. But, you know, maybe don’t call yourself the “Ethics Monster” if you want to avoid this kind of scrutiny. Look, nicknames are great and all, but when a cookie jar is broken, no one is looking at f**king Bert and Ernie. You’ve put a target on yourself when you give yourself a name like that, and courts are going to want to hold lawyers who bill themselves to clients as ethicists to a higher standard.
(Full opinion available on the next page….)
Ohio Supreme Court yanks law license of ‘Ethics Monster’ [Columbus Dispatch]
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.