“The (American Bar Affiliation) tips present that the preliminary consider figuring out self-discipline is the quantity of the particular or potential damage attributable to the lawyer’s misconduct,” stated Brian Staines, Connecticut’s chief disciplinary counsel, in a court docket doc. “On this case the potential damage would have been devastating.”
Staines is referring to allegations that Pattis improperly shared extremely confidential medical data of eight Sandy Hook households and an FBI agent who received $1.4 billion in defamation damages in opposition to Jones late final yr. Pattis despatched the restricted data to Jones’ then-bankruptcy lawyer in Texas throughout the August defamation awards trial for fogeys of a slain boy Sandy Hook who Jones defamed. The chapter lawyer then transferred the restricted medical data to Jones’ protection lawyer within the Texas case, who inadvertently despatched the data to the lawyer for the dad and mom.
The end result was an explosive announcement that made nationwide headlines throughout the livestreamed Texas trial when the lawyer for the Sandy Hook dad and mom who was questioning Jones on the stand revealed he had Jones’ cellphone calls and the protected medical data of the Sandy Hook households from the Connecticut case.
Andino Reynal, Jones’ protection lawyer in Texas, known as the bombshell disclosure, “the worst day of my legal career.” Staines has advisable Reynal be suspended from working towards regulation in Connecticut for 3 months for Reynal’s position within the alleged misconduct.
For Reynal, who doesn’t follow regulation in Connecticut, the specter of suspension isn’t as consequential as it’s for Pattis, one of many state’s highest-profile protection attorneys, who stated he is at a crossroads after the contentious Jones Sandy Hook trial in Connecticut.
State Superior Court docket Decide Barbara Bellis has scheduled a disciplinary listening to for Pattis and Reynal on Jan. 13. It’s unclear whether or not that date will battle with Pattis’ illustration of Joseph Biggs, a member of the Proud Boys group, whose trial for seditious conspiracy within the 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., started with jury choice on Dec. 19.
Pattis in his protection known as the sharing of the households’ medical data with Jones’ chapter lawyer “an innocent and unintentional mistake.”
Staines in his final phrase to the choose in a authorized argument on Tuesday stated Pattis’ mistake was something however harmless.
“The conclusion that (Pattis) knowingly disobeyed the protecting order is logical and legally applicable,” Staines wrote. “That is testimony within the report and has not been disputed.”
Attain Rob Ryser at rryser@newstimes.com or 203-731-3342
