Did Ohio Divorce Lawyer Fight Too Hard to Win Cases?
A prominent Ohio divorce lawyer is facing legal ethics charges for allegedly fighting too hard to win cases.
In a four-count complaint filed with a state commission that oversees lawyer grievances, attorney Vincent Stafford is accused of harassing clients’ husbands, lying to a judge and violating court orders, among other claimed misconduct, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
“Eight years ago, the same panel publicly reprimanded Stafford for engaging in a fistfight with an opposing lawyer in a courtroom,” the newspaper notes.
A lawyer for Stafford says lawyers, judges and other independent witnesses will refute these claims, and blames the complaints on disgruntled litigants who have suffered from his successful representation of clients in divorce cases.
If the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline determines that Stafford has violated legal ethics standards, it will be up to the state supreme court to review the findings of its commission and determine what penalty, if any, to impose.
