Lawyer Sarah Jay Schielke from Colorado was publicly censured for employing unprofessional language and making threats of disclosure in a letter seeking $50,000 in damages due to her client’s injuries at a Phish concert. As reported by the ABA Journal, Schielke’s letter alleged that another lawyer, referred to as V.D., rushed the Phish stage while in the nude.
While it’s not unheard of for Phish fans to shed their clothes, as evidenced by this post asking about a Phish nudist colony, the rush to the stage provoked a complex reaction. But what caught the attention of the legal community was not the nudity but the language in Schielke’s letter. The censured lawyer referred to V.D. in highly derogatory terms, calling him violent, a disgrace to legal professionals in Colorado, as well as to the family and the Phish community.
Schielke’s response to the reprimand was unapologetic. She admitted that while her language might have been inappropriate for a legal demand letter, she stood by her comments about V.D. She acknowledged her emotions might have gotten the better of her and stated, “I lost my objectivity, and that was a mistake. Lesson learned. When you’re close to the client and emotions are high, the better way to help a best friend is to just refer the case out.”
If you’d like to review the detailed account of this incident, you can read the full article – Lawyer Gets Shamed After Allegedly Rushing A Phish Stage In The Nude on Above the Law.