Small Law Firms

'You Should Commit Suicide' Not An Acceptable Settlement Strategy

The lawyer who introduced us all to dog racism argued that he should only be censured.

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Adam Leitman Bailey, last seen in these parts standing up to the scourge of dog racism, has earned himself a suspension from the First Department for “inappropriate litigation behavior.” He’ll be sidelined for four months and sent to counseling for “up to a year.”

Is it possible the Appellate Division is just getting soft? Could they be succumbing to the “P.C. Culture” that doesn’t respect the “toughness” we used to applaud our litigators for?

[One] act of misconduct involved postings allegedly made by James Dawson, a tenant in a building whose owner Bailey represented. The lawyer called Dawson, who recorded the call, told him he “should commit suicide,” and swore at him and threatened to report him to prosecutors for unspecified wrongdoing.

Oh. No, that’s monstrous. I got some pushback for downplaying Michael Avenatti’s SDNY charges (relative to the Central District of California charges about fraudulently procuring loans) when I mused that hardball settlement negotiations with a sophisticated client represented by expert counsel really couldn’t be criminal extortion — at least not something worthy of expending prosecutorial resources upon — but that bullying a random litigant would be a different story. Well, this is the sort of “bullying a random litigant” that does require some intervention and it’s worth noting that the criminal justice system doesn’t seem to see fit to flex its muscles against “kill yourself” like it does against “I might go public with these claims and impact a company’s earnings per share.”

Alas, as they say in the commercials, “But wait, there’s more!”

According to the panel’s decision, Bailey’s first act of misconduct took place in November 2016. He allegedly walked into a conference room at his firm where a witness was testifying in an arbitration, began taking pictures with his phone, and said, “This will be in the newspaper when I put this in there after we kick your asses. You should be ashamed of yourselves for kicking people out of a building and you have to live with yourself.”

He just saw an Instagram-worthy arbitration and decided to go for it. #blessed

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In any event, Bailey seems to have made things worse for himself in the panel’s eyes by not falling on the sword here:

“Given this and his failure to take full responsibility for the conduct that led to the instant proceeding, we find that a four-month suspension and a referral to the New York City Bar Association’s Lawyer Assistance Program for counseling is an appropriate sanction in this case,” the panel said Tuesday.

That’s more than the referee recommended. The lawyer who introduced us all to dog racism argued that he should only be censured. The panel decided that dog won’t hunt.

First Department Suspends Adam Leitman Bailey for 4 Months [New York Law Journal]

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HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior 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. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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