2 Irked Jurists: 2 Ethics Cases for 1 Atty
Did Arnold Levine rifle through the papers on a Florida judge’s desk? Or did he merely, as he claims, pick up a copy of a document that he had faxed to the judge, in plain sight of other lawyers and court personnel?
That seems to be the question in one of the two Florida Bar ethics cases in which the well-known Tampa-area defense attorney is now involved, following complaints from two separate Hillsborough County judges, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
The other ethics case concerns a letter Levine sent recommending that a state-court judge not be appointed to the federal bench. Levine actually sent that letter to force the judge to disqualify himself from a development case in which Levine was involved, according to the bar complaint.
Levine, who has been a Florida lawyer since 1960, told the St. Pete Times he intends to fight the charges. “I’m satisfied that I did absolutely nothing wrong in either of these instances,” he says, and “I expect to ultimately be exonerated.”
