Lawyer says he misunderstood wind-up period in lifetime ban on representing women
A Connecticut lawyer barred from representing female clients for the rest of his career claims in a new disciplinary hearing that he misunderstood the terms of the order.
Ethics officials are seeking a five-year suspension for lawyer Ira Mayo because of his representation of a female after he agreed to the lifetime ban, report the Connecticut Law Tribune and the Register Citizen. At a hearing last week, Mayo said that he believed he had a grace period that allowed him to continue representing women.
Mayo’s lawyers argued the woman became his client in the weeks before the lifetime ban took effect. His former lawyer, Randolph Richardson, testified at the hearing he advised Mayo that he had a two-month period to wind up his practice.
Mayo agreed to the lifetime ban in early July after he was accused of representing women in family law and domestic-violence cases in violation of a 2010 order. The agreement also included a four-month suspension beginning in October that Mayo is currently serving.
Mayo was accused in two prior ethics cases. In one, he was suspended for 15 months after he was accused of making unwanted advances to female clients referred to him by a group for abused women. In the second, he was banned from representing women in family law or domestic violence cases after he was accused of offering to waive attorney fees in exchange for a massage.
