Lawyer faces contempt charges for alleged failure to show up for client hearings
Jonathan P. Fisher. Photo from the Fisher Law Firm.
A DUI lawyer in Virginia says he plans to reduce his caseload after he was accused of contempt of court for missing client hearings and failing to produce a client’s driving record.
Blacksburg lawyer Jonathan P. Fisher, 42, told the Roanoke Times that the scheduling problems led him to reach out to Lawyers Helping Lawyers, a nonprofit, where he is attending group sessions led by a mental health professional.
Fisher has had more than 50 broken bones because of brittle bone disease, and the injuries have left him with post-traumatic stress disorder, he told the Roanoke Times. He said his scheduling problems began to worsen when he took time off for a broken arm last fall.
Fisher is appealing two contempt convictions for missing court dates and has two other upcoming hearings for alleged failure to appear and failure to produce the driving record, the article reports. Five other contempt charges have been dismissed or deferred, according to the story.
In addition, Fisher was fined $100 in March for being late to a hearing and sanctioned $500 for swearing at a prosecutor and threatening to sue his office. Fisher told the Roanoke Times that he won’t appeal the conviction and sanctions, which stem from disagreements over a plea deal.
Fisher told the Roanoke Times that sessions with Lawyers Helping Lawyers helped him realize that sometimes lawyers focus so much on helping clients that they forget to take care of themselves.
“You’ve got to take care of your own self, or you can’t take care of other people,” he said.
