The youngest president in the history of the Washington State Bar Association has resigned. As they say, “What happened next will shock you.” Or, it won’t because you already read the title.
Anyway, Robin Haynes, the 39-year-old Spokane attorney until recently heading up the state bar, just learned that authorities are pursuing charges against her:
Spokane attorney Robin Haynes resigned Sunday as president of the Washington State Bar Association a day before a search warrant was filed seeking to charge her with three counts of second-degree theft.
The warrant, filed Monday by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, follows a bar complaint filed by her former law firm, McNeice Wheeler.
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Unfortunately, no one seems willing to say what’s going on. Neither Haynes nor McNeice Wheeler are talking, and the complaint that kicked this all off isn’t publicly available. Even the Sheriff’s Office is in the dark:
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Mark Gregory said late Monday that he had not been briefed about the criminal investigation into Haynes and had nothing to add.
The Laura Palmer investigation was more easier to follow.
Haynes left McNeice Wheeler in January and started her own shop. Her attorney, Roy Umlauf, did tell the Spokesman-Review that there are ongoing negotiations between Haynes and her former firm regarding her departure.
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It’d be a shame if this complaint was functionally a negotiating tactic in an acrimonious separation.
Spokane attorney resigns as state bar president a day before criminal warrant filed [Spokesman-Review]
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.