US Appeals Court Tosses Geoffrey Fieger’s Challenge to Civility Rule
A federal appeals court has dismissed a suit by Michigan lawyer Geoffrey Fieger challenging an ethics rule requiring lawyers to use courtesy and civility.
The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Fieger and and Detroit lawyer Richard Steinberg did not have standing to bring the suit, according to the Detroit News and the Associated Press.
Fieger stipulated to a disciplinary reprimand for vulgar comments he made about appeals judges who ruled against him in a malpractice case, but he reserved the right to challenge the ethics provisions that were the basis of the reprimand, the 6th Circuit said in its 2-1 opinion (PDF).
Fieger had called the appellate judges “jackasses” for overturning a $15 million verdict and compared them to Nazis during a radio interview.
The Michigan Supreme Court upheld the reprimand and the rules, but a federal district judge said the rules violated the First Amendment. The 6th Circuit reversed.
The federal appeals court said the lawyers failed to demonstrate actual present harm or a significant possibility of future harm. How Appealing summarized the ruling.
