The Wisconsin Supreme Court has disbanded a lawyer who attempted coercion by threatening to sue his client’s relatives. The motive behind the threat was to persuade the woman to waive her attorney-client privilege in order for the attorney to source material for a tell-all book about a murder trial.
This unique case of misconduct involving lawyer, Roger G. Merry, led to the justices of the Wisconsin Supreme Court disregarding the ethics regulators’ recommendation for a one-year suspension, opting instead to pull Merry’s law license altogether. The attorney had threatened to sue a criminal defendant’s grandparents, an action that was taken to coerce the defendant into forsaking her attorney-client privilege.
Failing to secure the client’s consent, Merry proceeded to act against state ethics mandates, publishing facts that were damaging to the defendant. This case, referred to as M.S. in the opinion brought an extreme penalty upon Merry, signaling a clear message about the gravity of such ethical transgressions.
This incident alerts us about the potential misuse of privileged information for extraneous purposes and serves as a poignant reinforcement of the need for strict observance of professional ethics in the field of law.
For full details on the court’s ruling on this case, you may refer to the detailed ruling here.
Original story can be found at Bloomberg Law.