Once-prominent Philadelphia lawyer disbarred on 10 disciplinary charges
Philadelphia lawyer Willie Lee Nattiel Jr., who had protested the lack of criminal charges against police in two widely publicized local incidents, has been disbarred.
Nattiel, 55, was ordered disbarred on 10 disciplinary charges, many of which involved mishandling client funds and neglecting client matters, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The order (PDF), published by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, will take effect Feb. 28, the Inquirer says.
Nattiel has also been ordered to pay costs to the court’s disciplinary board.
According to the board’s 23-page report and recommendations, Nattiel was temporarily suspended in 2012. The office of disciplinary counsel filed a petition for discipline against him in 2013, which he failed to answer. Nor did he appear at a disciplinary hearing early last year.
“Throughout his representation of his clients, respondent engaged in repeated misrepresentations, omissions and deceit,” the disciplinary board wrote in its report. “His behavior demonstrates a long-standing pattern of neglect, deception and theft, and it appears that after converting unearned fees from numerous clients, respondent essentially abandoned those clients and ceased all communication.”
Nattiel could not be reached for comment by the Inquirer. He made news after criticizing a 2010 case in which a Philadelphia police sergeant shot himself and blamed a black assailant and another 2008 incident involving a police chase and violent arrest of four black suspects, which was caught on videotape.
But another Philadelphia lawyer who worked with him on several cases said Nattiel had been suffering from serious health problems and was coping with the rape of a relative.
“For 24 or 25 years, he had an excellent reputation among lawyers, black, white and female, and even among many prosecutors,” said lawyer Michael Coard of Nattiel.
