Lawyer Fined for Missing Client’s Murder Trial
A Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who failed to show up at trial to defend a client accused of murder will have to pay $2,500 in court costs and the fees of a public defender who took over the case.
The lawyer, Glen Lerner, had left a voice mail with a county prosecutor saying he was on sabbatical out of state and he would not be returning for the January trial. District Judge Michelle Leavitt imposed the fines on Friday after telling Lerner she was angry at his lack of respect for the court, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
In the voice mail, Lerner said he didn’t care if the judge sanctioned him. But when he appeared before Leavitt, he changed his stance and “apologized profusely,” the newspaper says.
Lerner told the judge the voice mail was part of his tough negotiating strategy that on second thought was ill-conceived. “I was posturing,” he said. “I am way too old to be leaving silly messages like that.”
Lerner, who calls himself a “heavy hitter” in television ads, had sought to withdraw from the case about a month before the trial. Leavitt refused, in part because he and his co-counsel, Carl Arnold, had attached the wrong defendant’s information, the newspaper says. Arnold told the judge he thought the trial would be postponed.
The Nevada State Bar has confirmed it received an ethics complaint regarding Lerner but has not revealed details. Leavitt previously said she would refer Lerner to the bar for his actions.
