Thursday, March 28, 2024

From NPR: California judge recommends disbarment of pro-Trump attorney John Eastman

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A California judge has formally recommended that attorney John Eastman lose his law license for his role in Donald Trump's legal effort to remain in power after losing the 2020 presidential election.

Eastman, a prominent figure in conservative legal circles and a former clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, played a key role in developing and backing a plan for states to send pro-Trump slates of electors to Congress and have then-Vice President Mike Pence unilaterally block or delay the certification of Joe Biden's election victory.

"Eastman's wrongdoing constitutes exceptionally serious ethical violations warranting severe professional discipline," wrote California State Bar Court Judge Yvette Roland in her decision. "Eastman made multiple patently false and misleading statements in court filings, in public remarks heard by countless Americans and to others regarding the conduct of the 2020 presidential election and Vice President Pence's authority to refuse to count or delay counting properly certified slates of electoral votes on January 6, 2021."


LII: Disbarment.

Disbarment is the most severe sanction for attorney misconduct, which involves the removal of an attorney's license to practice law. Since the court has exclusive responsibility to license lawyers, it has sole authority / discretion to remove the license; less severe sanctions like suspension, probation, and reprimand can also be used to sanction misconduct when appropriate.

Causes of disbarment may include: a felony involving moral turpitude, forgery, fraud, a history of dishonesty, consistent lack of attention to clients, alcoholism or drug abuse which affect the attorney's ability to practice, theft of funds, or any pattern of violation of the professional code of ethics.


State Bar of Texas: Punishment for Professional Misconduct.

Disbarment

This is the most severe discipline resulting in a complete loss of a respondent lawyer’s license to practice law. Once disbarred, the lawyer’s name is removed from the membership rolls of the Supreme Court and the lawyer is required to remit his or her law license and bar card.

After five years, a disbarred lawyer may petition a district court to be reinstated to the practice of law. The disbarred lawyer must prove that reinstatement is in the best interest of the public and the profession, as well as the ends of justice. If such an application is granted, the disbarred lawyer is not automatically granted a law license. The disbarred lawyer must still pass the Bar Exam administered by the Texas Board of Law Examiners.

During the 2011-12 Bar year, 8 disbarred lawyers filed petitions for reinstatement. Of those, 1 was dismissed by the respondent attorney, 1 was denied, and 6 remain pending.